WASHINGTON — On Sept. 11, 2001, Andrew Ansbro was sent to the World Trade Center’s south tower.
“9/11 was my first fire,” Ansbro said. “I was a survivor of the collapse. I was there all day. I watched the North Tower come down and hit into Building 7, and watched Building 7 burn all day, until it eventually collapsed.”
Ansbro, who is the president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, and other 9/11 first responders visited Sen. Ron Johnson’s, R-Wis., office on Tuesday, after Johnson suggested on a podcast released last week that a “controlled demolition” was responsible for the collapse of World Trade Center building 7 after the 9/11 attack.
“It's just outlandish,” Ansbro said. “I think he's been misinformed… I feel he really should have done his homework before he opened his mouth on this.”
The conspiracy theory has long been debunked by experts. An investigation found that debris from the collapse of the Twin Towers ignited fires in Building 7 that raged on, because the sprinkler system failed. After seven hours, Building 7 collapsed too.
Jim Brosi, another 9/11 first responder and the president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association, said he was “taken aback” when he heard Johnson’s remarks.
“This idea that this was a staged attack, or this was done by the government, is ridiculous, and somewhat takes away from the sacrifice that the people made on that day,” he said.
Johnson, who is chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, said he thinks he will hold a hearing on the matter.
When two New York lawmakers, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY, and Rep. Mike Lawler, R-NY, criticized him for his comments last week, Johnson told Spectrum News, “it is the firefighters who have been leading the charge for over 20 years to have their legitimate questions answered. I am honoring them by responding to their concerns.”
But the first responders who visited Johnson’s office Tuesday made clear they do not have such concerns about the demise of Building 7.
“We were standing there, helpless,” Ansbro said. “We didn't have water.”
Johnson was in Washington Tuesday, but did not meet with the first responders. Instead, they talked with a member of his staff.
The first responders said they were told Johnson wants to put all aspects of 9/11 under a microscope, even though a bipartisan commission wrote a detailed report on 9/11, including the preparedness for and the immediate response to the attacks.
“I'm 100% on board with uncovering every government failure that led to 9/11, but the government involvement with 9/11, I don't think there's anything there, and we expressed that,” Ansbro said.
The first responders visited several more offices on Capitol Hill. Their main goal is to get lawmakers to add more money to the World Trade Center Health Program, to ensure that first responders and survivors can continue to get medical treatment for illnesses blamed on exposure to toxic dust and debris from the collapse of buildings at the trade center on 9/11. A shortfall is projected by 2027.
“[The bill] will see to it that… the program is funded until 2040, which is what's needed,” Ansbro said. “And if this doesn't go through, sometime next year, they're going to have to start making cuts. They may not hire doctors… They'll have to stop taking on new patients or treating new illnesses.”
Ansbro has benefitted from the program.
“My lung capacity went from 95% to 72% in that one year,” he said. “I was hired in 2001. My first test was in 2000. My second test was December of 2001. My lung capacity dropped 25%. I'm on inhalers. I've had bouts of skin cancer, right here [on my face], but I consider myself very lucky.”
Brosi and Ansbro said there are 58 Wisconsinites in the health program. They conveyed that to Johnson’s team.
“Around 9/11 everyone says, ‘never forget,’” Ansbro said of the group’s office visits. “We're going to knock on your door and let you know that Americans are still suffering from the terrorist attack that went against New York City, Shanksville, and D.C., and it's your time to honor that promise of ‘never forget’ and see to it that the health care that was promised to these people is realized and that they can get their treatment.”