Hear from first firefighters on the scene of the Times Square bomb. TIC helped alert FDNY’s Engine 54, Ladder 4 & Battalion 9.

Above are interviews with some of the firefighters from Engine 54, Ladder 4, and Battalion 9 who responded to the bomb inside a Nissan Pathfinder parked in Times Square on Saturday. The video below contains Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s remarks from his visit today with the FDNY members.

Here is part of what Mayor Bloomberg had to say about the actions of the firefighters:

The reason I came here was to personally thank the FDNY for the important role that they played. I came here today to meet the members of Engine Company 54, Ladder 4, and Battalion 9. And I would just like to point out near the front door, if you look on the walls, you will see a lot of brass plaques. This Fire Department has a custom that one year after somebody dies in the line of duty, they put up a brass plaque in memory of that person, but mainly I think to tell the young recruits that come into these fire houses that somebody has paid a terrible price but they are the role models for all of us. Those are people that put their lives in danger and unfortunately didn’t come out. And there were 15 from this house who lost their lives on 9/11. And I wanted to thank all of them, and you see some of the young ones here, for their deft and professional response to the car bombing in Times Square.

Justice Department diagram of how the Nissan Pathfinder was rigged.

“I was able to shake hands with a lot of them at about two in the morning on Sunday morning. Members of this fire house responded when Police Officer Rhatigan saw a fire in the car and immediately notified his superiors that something was awry. The vehicle was parked haphazardly, the engine was running and the smoke emanating from the rear was white which is unusual for a vehicle fire. The fire officers on the scene then used thermal imaging cameras to detect the heat source, and once they saw that that the only heat was coming from the engine itself and the smoke had a different source, they worked hand-in-hand with the NYPD to evacuate the area and keep the public at a safe distance so the bomb squad could arrive and do its work. And then they stayed throughout the night to help secure the area.

 “Our Bravest did exactly what they have been trained to do in such situations. They knew not to apply water or any other extinguishing agent. Their quick thinking and restraint preserved important evidence – evidence that could be very significant in the ongoing investigation of this act.

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