Diocese of Greensburg bishop visits Fayette County 911 Center to commemorate 9/11 anniversary
United Flight 93 made a brief pass over Fayette County as a caller connected to dispatchers at the Fayette County 911 Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
The plane crossed over the ridge in the Normalville area, and Roy Shipley, now the county emergency management agency director, stepped into a meeting with the county commissioners.
“It still gives me chills,” Shipley said. “I said, ‘Yinz need to adjourn the meeting. Something’s going on. We’re under attack.'”
“I’ll never forget that day,” Fayette County Commissioner Vince Vicites said.
Bishop Larry J. Kulick of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Greensburg visited the 911 Center Friday as part of a remembrance tour throughout the diocese to commemorate the anniversary. EMA officials took Kulick on a tour as they reflected on the day.
Officials acted quickly to lock down the schools and the courthouse after the Flight 93 caller connected to Fayette 911.
“A couple minutes either way determined where that plane was going to go down,” said EMA IT Manager Tony Alviar.
Fayette County EMA sent its mobile command unit to the crash site in Shanksville, Somerset County, where it remained for more than two weeks, along with dispatchers, police, fire departments and many other local services. Fayette County EMA participated in Operation Clean Sweep, a check to collect any evidence that was missed on the massive crime scene.
“You see how groups came together, working like clockwork,” said Fayette County EMA Public Information Officer Sue Griffith.
Griffith was a dispatcher on Sept. 11, 2001. She recalled the unified mindset that was felt across county lines and departments, and said everything was discussed as “us” and “we.”
“It was a heartfelt looking out for my friends. It was camaraderie,” she said.
Shipley said Sept. 11, 2001, and the communication difficulties among departments, particularly in New York City, highlighted the necessity for departments to communicate seamlessly across county lines and agencies.
“We solved that problem in Fayette County. Turn the knob, I can talk to Westmoreland, I can talk to Armstrong, I can talk to Indiana,” Shipley said. “From that day forward, operations changed.”
Fayette County can now communicate with first responders in seven counties and phone lines are coordinated across 10 counties. Shipley said those updates have proved invaluable. They are used frequently during severe weather problems that impact multiple counties and in coordinating services needed in Fayette County from Pittsburgh.
Kulick said his background gave him deep appreciation for first responders. His father was a longtime police officer and chief in his hometown of Leechburg. As a child, Kulick said he would sit and listen to the scanner and took note of the compassion he would hear on calls.
“It really gave me, as a young person, an appreciation for the people who were behind the scenes, for the people who were coordinating,” he said.
He thanked the dispatchers for their work and service, and led a prayer of comfort for first responders and everyone effected by the terrorist attacks, and prayed for peace.
“You really are the unsung heroes,” Kulick told dispatchers and EMA coordinators.
Kulick encouraged people to reflect on that day and the unity and compassion the tragedy generated.
Vicites said it only took hours for Uniontown to transform in the aftermath of Sept. 11, and recalled walking back to the 911 Center from the courthouse 20 years ago.
“When I walked up, it was just an average day. When I came back, the streets were lined with American flags,” he said. “It’s something I can never forget.”