NYC Releases 911 Calls From Sept. 11

NEW YORK -- With chaos all around him in the World Trade Center, fire safety officer Larry Boisseau calmly called 911 from the south tower lobby, spelling his name and even offering directions to the burning building.

Four minutes after he hung up, the building collapsed, killing Boisseau at his command post in the lobby.

His 911 call was one of 19 the city released Friday following a lawsuit filed by The New York Times and some victims' families. The city said it had recently discovered the tapes.

Portions of 15 of the calls had been previously released. The new information includes calls taken by police operators before they transferred the calls to Fire Department dispatchers.

Boisseau's call is one of only two released Friday in which the caller's voice could be heard. His side of the call was released because he was on the job at the time of the call, as a fire safety director for OCS Security.

In recent years, the city has released hours of emergency calls made from in and around the trade center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Colleagues said Boisseau spent part of that morning helping rescue dozens of children who evacuated from a nearby day care center.

He called 911 at 9:52 a.m.

"Two World Trade Center. We have injured people in the lobby of the building. They need medical attention," he said.

The police operator tried to reach emergency services for Boisseau, but the call went unanswered for nearly three minutes.

In the background, another voice can be heard. "The Pentagon's on fire, too. I don't know if that's true." Boisseau says, "Wow."

Boisseau later describes the exact location of the burning south tower _ "It's between Liberty Street and Church Street" _ spells his name and asks the operator to keep trying.