Sep 13, 2009 5 min read

CONNELLSVILLE – The Weather Channel meteorologist was confirming what could be seen out of Fayette EMS administrative director Bob Topper’s office window as he and director of operations Rick Adobato conversed about the days’ activities. It was a bright, crisp mid-September morning, and the emergency service provider had everything under control until his telephone rang and his wife advised him to switch to a television news channel where the anchors were relating that an airliner had crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City.

That beautiful day – Sept. 11, 2001 – was about to change in so many ways.

“My first reaction was ‘wow, that’s unbelievable,'” he said. “We both watched the second airplane hit and we knew immediately this was no accident.

“One airplane into a building is an accident; two is not an accident.”

Within a short period of time, American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon.

A few minutes later, Topper was advised that an airliner was entering into Fayette County airspace and shortly thereafter received information that there was an airplane down in Somerset County and Fayette EMS crews were needed.

“While I was watching the morning events unfold, I kept thinking to myself, ‘What is this and what’s next?'” he said. “You didn’t know where it would end. Were we under attack?”

As he and co-worker Mary Ann Cook got into his vehicle to respond to Shanksville, he advised his staff to not send every piece of equipment or every available emergency medical technician or paramedic as he was unsure what would transpire over the next several minutes, hours or days.

“We didn’t know where it was going to end,” said Topper.

As he drove, Topper said that he had so many questions racing through his mind, including why would someone crash an airplane anywhere in southwestern Pennsylvania?

Were all of the ambulances needed? Were they going to drive to Shanksville and find they must turn around because something happened in Pittsburgh and were needed there?

“There were so many questions and no answers,” he said. “If anything of any scale was to happen, (Fayette EMS) was going to be involved even if it wasn’t within our service area.”

During the drive, Topper said that he kept in constant contact with Fayette County EMA director Guy Napolillo for updates on the overall situation and to determine just where the jetliner crash site was located.

“The county was also responding, but I was going to be the first one from Fayette County on the scene, so we were trying to share information,” he said.

“Unfortunately, there was not a lot of information available.”

Just prior to his arrival, the eight Fayette EMS ambulances already en route were cancelled. He knew then there were no survivors.

As they arrived in the small Somerset County community, Topper and Cook encountered firefighters and police officers manning every intersection, giving priority to those who were there to lend help.

“I pulled onto the scene and asked, ‘Where’s the crash?'” recalled Topper. “I was told I was sitting on it.”

He could not be sitting on it because as he looked out in front of him all he saw was a few trees burning and chunks of dirt, grass and rocks that had been scattered from a hole in the ground.

“It looked as though someone had stuck a stick of dynamite in the ground and it had exploded,” he said. “There was nothing there, nothing that would tell you that an airplane had crashed.

“A television report or newspaper photograph could never really capture that scene. Once I started digesting what had happened, I began to realize that this was one of those life-changing events, much like Pearl Harbor or the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

“The devastation at that scene, along with watching those airplanes crash into the World Trade Center and the Twin Towers collapse was just so unbelievable. I’ll never forget it.”

What transpired in New York, at the Pentagon and in the small rural Somerset County community eight years ago has changed many people, lifestyles, procedures and protocols for emergency services and other agencies, he said.

“You might not think it impacts you, but it does,” he said. “It has impacted how the government works, how tax dollars are spent, how you go through an airport, the way you get onto a bus and the way you go across borders.”

The tragedy also changed our language, Topper added.

“We never talked about terrorism or terrorists before then,” he said. “For most of us, it was the first time that we experienced something like this. I cannot imagine what it was like for the families and friends of those that lost their lives, either on the airplanes or on the ground that day, but it did impact our little department.”

Topper said that he has not returned to Shanksville since that mid-September day.

“I don’t need to go back,” he said. “I’ll remember it as it was on that day and that’s enough.”