THE first emergency broadcast to the workers in the twin towers of the World
Trade Center told them to stay at their desks until requested to evacuate. It’s
standard practice when fire breaks out in tall buildings: clear people down from
floors in the immediate vicinity, then firefighters can attack the blaze from
the floor beneath. Everyone else is supposed to be safer staying put until the
blaze is under control.
That’s the theory. But it wasn’t a day for following standard procedures.
“It’s a difficult point to make, but it’s important,” says Ed Galea, director of
fire safety engineering…
