CLINTONVILLE, Wis. — One Wisconsin company will always have a unique connection to New York City and Sept. 11.
The attack on the World Trade Center was a pivotal moment in history. Many people remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when it happened 22 years ago.
What You Need To Know
- 22 years ago, Seagrave Fire Apparatus helped replace FDNY's fleet following 9/11
- The New York Fire Department lost 54 Seagrave trucks when the World Trade Center towers fell
- It made them proud to know the trucks they put together were helping save lives in such a massive rescue effort
- Then they built a whole new fleet of trucks for FDNY in less than two months
Robert Skalla was among a group of people in the small city of Clintonville, Wisconsin, watching in horror. He was glued to the news, trying to see if he recognized any of the firefighters going into the buildings to help.
“We were in shock of what was happening,” Skalla said. “It doesn’t feel like 22 years has passed.”
Clintonville is about 43 miles west of Green Bay. The city’s biggest employer is Seagrave Fire Apparatus. For decades, the company has made New York City’s fire trucks.
Skalla is Seagrave’s director of materials. On Sept. 11, 2001, he and his team watched in real time as the huge steel trucks they make were put to the test like never before.
“They helped secure the area and save people’s lives,” he said.
They said it made them proud to know the trucks they put together were helping save lives in such a massive rescue effort. But it also broke their hearts to know so many New York City firefighters — many of whom they met through their work — died while trying to rescue people.
“It’s still hard today, because I lost a number of friends,” said Rick Goodell, a retired Seagrave engineer.
A lot of the equipment was badly damaged or ruined as well. The New York Fire Department lost 54 Seagrave trucks when the World Trade Center towers fell.
So workers in Clintonville stepped up to do the one thing they could from more than a thousand miles away. They got busy building more trucks for New York City.
“It was an all-out effort throughout the entire organization,” Goodell said. “There were guys who worked in the plant without a day off in months, just to get them back in business.”
They built a whole new fleet of trucks for FDNY. In less than two months, they had two of those trucks ready to be delivered, a turnaround time that’s unheard of.
In the winter following the Sept. 11 attacks, the community of Clintonville gathered as the trucks left for New York City. It was their way of honoring the firefighters and their families who gave so much.
“It’s a very proud thing,” Goodell said.
“It was a proud moment,” Skalla said. “We saw our units in action fulfilling their duty, and we rebuilt their fleet quickly.”
It’s created an unbreakable bond between the assembly line and workers in Clintonville, and the front lines and firefighters in New York City.
Correction: The previous version of this story used the wrong abbreviation for the New York Fire Department. This has been corrected. (Sept. 11, 2023)