Timothy Townsend

When the planes crashed into the two towers of the World Trade Center, debris was scattered on the streets below for blocks around the buildings. People remarked on the papers floating in the air like a ticker-tape parade. But larger and more hazardous debris were also flying through the air. Detritus from the airplane, such as engines, luggage, and pieces of the human passengers, also littered the streets. Timothy Townsend, a financial reporter, saw all this and more as he wandered around the base of the World Trade Center. He also watched, horrified, as people threw themselves out of the buildings in an attempt to escape the fate of being burned to death. Then, he gazed in astonishment and fear as the south tower collapsed in on itself. He and thousands of other spectators fled away from the building to...