On Sept. 11, 2001, firefighter Tom Sullivan was finishing a 24-hour shift working with the FDNY’s Marine 1 Unit on the Hudson, featuring the Fireboat John D. McKean. When an airplane slammed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, the McKean and its crew headed downriver from its headquarters to respond to a scene that would get more chaotic as each minute went by.

 "We helped a lot of people evacuate them from Lower Manhattan, got them safely over to Jersey, a lot of them were seriously injured, and people were just coming out, the walking wounded, trying to render first aid, telling everyone to go North, the cloud was drifting south after the buildings collapsed," said Sullivan.

McKean Marine Engineer James Briorty also remembers the panic of people trying to escape the World Trade Center site.

"It was extremely panicky, we had fireman in the water trying to get people who tried to jump on the boat when it was pulling away," said Briorty.

After the rescue operation, the McKean, which can pump some 19,000 gallons of water per minute, provided water for firefighting efforts, since hydrants and water mains were crushed by the collapsed buildings.  

"We supplied the water for about three straight days," said Briorty.

It was a busy and sad time for the boat which started its service for the FDNY in the mid-1950s. Before the McKean would be decommissioned in 2010, it would aid after the emergency landing of US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River in January of 2009, the Miracle on the Hudson.
 
"We were able to tie up the plane to the boat, the nose of the plane was tied to the bow the wing was underneath the boat, we had a line around the tail and were able to drag it back into shore and then it sunk right over here," said Sullivan, pointing to a spot on the Hudson not far from where the McKean is now docked at Hudson River Park's Pier 25. It’s a floating museum, named for an FDNY Marine Engineer killed in a 1953 steam explosion on another fireboat. It was bought at an auction in 2016 by Edward Taylor, who donated it for the establishment of the 501 c3 not for profit Fireboat McKean Preservation Project.

"It's got a great New York history, a rich history, our history”, said Taylor, now an advisor to the board of the organization. Village of Tarrytown Firefighter Miguel Valle has been involved with the effort for the past six years, spending countless hours on the McKean as “Chief of the Boat.”

"The boat is operational 100%, it would be nice for kids and people to see 1950s technology, how the boat operates, and how we brought it back to life," said Valle.

Anthony Maiello is Chief Engineer on the McKean. He has a background as a merchant marine and loved the challenge of keeping the McKean running. “All the old technology is great and honestly it’s easier to work on because it’s more mechanical, there’s not a lot of electronics involved, it’s a lot of fun," said Maiello.  

Tracy Conte knows the McKean very well. She is board president for the organization, her Dad FDNY Lieutenant Harry Wanamaker served on the McKean. He died in 2010 of a 9/11-related illness, after spending many days in the recovery effort at the World Trade Center site. The mission now is to raise funds and add more volunteers so the McKean can continue to tell the stories of her father and others who worked on the boat.

"It marks a very important time in history and I know that my father loved it so much, he would be very proud that I'm involved in helping to share this boat with the community," said Conte.