Firefighter Who Was Trapped During 9/11 to Speak at Texas Event
July 07--A New York firefighter who was buried in a collapsed building twice during the attacks of 9/11 will serve as the guest speaker for the Chisholm Trail 100 Club's fifth annual meeting. Members will meet from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. July 17 at First Baptist Church of Burleson, 317 W. Ellison St.
Joe Torrillo was on his way to a press conference to introduce Billy Blazes, the newest in Fisher Price's Rescue Heroes line, when the first plane hit the South Tower of the World Trade Center. He immediately donned borrowed bunker gear and went to assist the rescue efforts.
When the South Tower collapsed, Torrillo was buried with a fractured skull, broken ribs, broken arm, crushed spine and heavy internal bleeding. Shortly after being found alive in the rubble, they removed and placed him on the deck of a boat on the Hudson River, with the expectation of getting him to a hospital.
As emergency personnel were holding his split scalp together, the North Tower fell and buried Torrillo again. About 45 minutes later, he was once again rescued from the debris and taken across the Hudson River where he awoke in a hospital room at the Jersey City Trauma Center.
Because he was wearing borrowed firefighting gear with the name Thomas McNamara, Torrillo was misidentified by that name and was declared missing for 3 days.
Torrillo -- who is now retired -- travels the world as a professional speaker with a quest to make America the "Re-United States of America."
Niki Passmore, executive director of The 100 Club, said she expects spots for the meeting to be full soon.
"We are very excited and honored to host Joe Torrillo at our meeting," Passmore said. "He exemplifies the dedication and sacrifice all first responders display."
Other items on the meeting agenda include the voting in of the 2015 board of directors, introduction to the 2016 prospective board members and honoring local law enforcement officers with awards.
Burleson Police detectives David Feucht and Nick Grace will be honored with the Chisholm Trail 100 Club Award, a prestigious award given for outstanding courage and dedication in the line of duty.
Johnson County Sheriff Bob Alford will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing over 20 years of service in the community.
"We had three wonderful nominations this year, but our awards committee really thought that Sheriff Bob Alford exemplified the spirit which we are trying to honor," Passmore said. "He really has dedicated his entire life to the service of our community."
Alford said he was surprised that he will be given this award.
"I suggested several other people to be nominated for the award and to turn around and find out they were giving it to me, well, it is very humbling," Alford said. "Anything I've ever accomplished has been because of the people I have worked with, I just have been fortunate to be in the right place in the right time."
During the meeting, four other people will be recognized with awards for going above and beyond.
"This year we will be recognizing Kevin Cordell of the Burleson Police Department," Passmore said. "Last summer during the slew of ice bucket challenges he chose to raise funds for The 100 Club, collecting more than $11,000 for his ice bucket challenge.
"David Smith of Alpine Shooting Range will be recognized for providing excellent support during our annual clay shoot fundraiser, Vinsen Faris of [Meals-on-Wheels of Johnson and Ellis Counties] for outstanding support since the club's inception and John Calandro of Merrill Lynch of Dallas, who was our guest speaker last year, challenging us to create a scholarship specifically for children of fallen first responders, promising to personally match the first $10,000 raised within a month," Passmore said.
The 100 Club, Passmore said, is dedicated to supporting the first responders of Johnson County.
"The Chisholm Trail 100 Club is proud to provide over 1,300 Johnson County first responders with $50,000 line of duty life insurance as well as serious injury benefits and a scholarship for children of the fallen," Passmore said. "Our goals for the future include expansion into the Somervell County and Mansfield areas. We are currently accepting donations into funds for each of these expansion areas."
The meeting is for members only. For information on joining The 100 Club, visit www.ct100.org.
Copyright 2015 - Cleburne Times-Review, Texas
