U.F. woman aids ground zero search-and-rescue efforts Rescuers hope to find survivors in 16 acres of tunnels

U.F. woman aids ground zero
search-and-rescue efforts
Rescuers hope to
find survivors in
16 acres of tunnels

VERONICA YANKOWSKI Like Americans across the country, a homeowner on North Main Street in Allentown displays the American flag as a symbol of respect and patriotism following last week’s terrorist attack.

Alice Holmes, an Upper Freehold resident, returned home late Sunday night after spending five days in the hellish environment that used to be the financial center of the world, the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan.

Holmes and her dog, Chewy, are part of a search-and-rescue team that was deployed to the area the morning of Sept. 11, shortly after the planes hit the two towers. Ironically, she has not even seen footage of the two collisions that caused the devastation that she is working amidst.

Holmes are members of the United States Volunteer Wilderness Team.

"We’re on the N.J. Task Force One, part of the State Police Office of Emergency Management," Holmes explained. "It’s a state disaster team. What we do is train for wilderness and urban areas."

Holmes is qualified to go out as a ground team member and is in the process of training Chewy, a 100-pound German shepherd, although he may weigh less now; Holmes said he lost some weight over the past six days.

Her voice raspy from inhaling so much dust, Holmes said Monday that she had to return home to attend to some personal things, but she is anxious to get back. She also had to get away from the overwhelming dust.

"Yesterday I couldn’t talk at all; I couldn’t give commands to Chewy, and he needed a break," she said. "This is his first disaster. He’s adjusted very well, but I don’t want to ruin him."

But still, Holmes said she felt guilty leaving her team and was planning to go back yesterday or today.

"Our task force is a complete team. We’ve become like a family. There are 130 people living together, working together. We know one another very well now. There are also 10 K-9 dogs there," she said.

"I felt really bad about leaving, but I had to," she added. "One handler said he went home because his dog had to be taken out of service for 24 hours. The wet cement, from the rain last week, was drying in the dog’s feet and grinding the skin away. But he couldn’t stay away. He said he couldn’t think of anything else.

"When someone leaves, the rest have to work harder," she said.

Team members work in 12-hour shifts, but for the dog handlers it means they have to take care of their animals before they can go to sleep.

"I get only a couple of hours of sleep every night, even though my shift is from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.," Holmes said. "I have to get up early to get my dog ready, and after my shift, I have to bathe Chewy, take a bath, eat and meet with my team."

And every day is a little bit different, according to Holmes.

"My dog is trained to find people who are alive," she said, "but he’s learned to find dead people, too. He alerts me that there is someone there in a different way than he does if they are alive."

Holmes said one of the most horrendous parts is finding pieces of people. And then there are the fire fighters who plead with her to find their fellow firefighters — their brothers, as they call one another.

"People keep asking us, ‘Have you found anybody?’ With the search dogs, we’re always looking for people, checking buildings, elevator shafts," she said.

"We tell them that we are working as hard as we can. That’s what we tell them. And we are. You just take a day at a time," she added.

Holmes said they are still hoping to find life in the ruins, but there are not even chunks of cement. There is just what seems to be an endless supply of dust.

"There’s six inches of this powder everywhere," she said. "When the wind blows, the dust cloud is unbelievable. We’ve swept and cleaned, but it’s still everywhere.

"It’s just piles of powder and steel," she said. "We’re just hoping there are people in the 16 acres of tunnels and the mall areas."

The 45-year-old mother of three and college student hasn’t seen her husband David since she left for class at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, around 7:30 a.m. Sept. 11. She was sitting in her Spanish class when she was paged. It was around 9:15 a.m.

No one in her class knew what had happened. She was told that she was being deployed from Lakehurst Naval Air Station, that she should drive safely, bring all her gear, and be prepared to spend about 10 days there. She told her classmates that something terrible must have happened, and they all went out to listen to their car radios.

As usual, Chewy was with her. However, she had to rush home to pick up her equipment, after which she reported to Lakehurst where the headquarters of the N.J. Task Force One (TF-1) is located. TF-1 is the state’s only urban search-and-rescue team. It is part of the New Jersey State Police Office of Emergency Management.

"The first four days we were completely shut off from the rest of the world," she said. "We didn’t know what was going on. We saw the president. We saw the governor."

But she and the other team members were focused on doing their job. Holmes, who is one of only about 10 women on the team, has nothing but praise for the state task force. She said it is the best even though it has been in existence only since 1997.

According to her husband David, her team is run just like a Federal Emergency Management Agency team, with 12 hours on and 12 hours off. And team members are required to go for debriefings. But unlike FEMA, it is not funded by the government. The state pays for it all — the equipment, harnesses and uniforms, he said.

"The thing New Jersey should be very proud of is the money they’ve invested in this team," she said. "It’s not a FEMA team, but they are doing the same job and doing a fantastic job. We’ve got equipment that a lot of other teams don’t have, like search equipment and high-tech tools."

All the FEMA teams are working together, Holmes added.

"We’re meeting people from all across the country," she said. "We’re all working toward the same goal: finding people alive or dead so that we can return them to their families."

The dogs have never seen anything like this before, Holmes added.

"I’ve been working Chewy mostly on leash because it’s so dangerous," she said. "It’s more difficult that way, but I’m afraid he’s going to go over a precipice."

Holmes said the rescue workers are staying at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on 11th Avenue between 34th and 39th streets.

"We had been told not to eat the food people have given us. For the first couple of days we ate only packaged food, but around the third or fourth day, a cruise ship invited us on board for food, bathrooms, drinks or to just sit down," she said. "We watched new chefs in white hats come on board, and we applauded them. They were coming in to feed us. Volunteers bring the food on to the ship. We were go grateful to get real food, real coffee and something to drink besides water."

Holmes said the most incredible thing is the sense of camaraderie among everyone there, including firefighters, police officers and construction workers.

"Whenever they find someone, they yell. The whole place gets dead quiet. It’s amazing; 4,000 people stop everything," she said. "They are all working toward one goal, no matter how tired they are. All day long, people smile at you and pat you on the back."

Her husband, who was taking care of his three children alone last week, has been touched by the generosity of people too.

"A number of people have called up because they know Alice is there," he said. "They’ve offered their prayers and any support I might need."

But he was worried about her.

"Alice is well trained, but she’s working on a rubble pile that’s unstable," he noted.

His wife agreed.

"No matter how well trained you are, nothing can prepare you for something like this."