Firefighter Lawrence Virgilio, an advanced rescue specialist with Squad 18, had recently been chosen to train for the elite FDNY team that would travel to other cities for disaster response. Virgilio joined the FDNY in 1989. A couple years later he also became a licensed physical therapist. Very athletic, he had run the NYC marathon twice, competed in tri- and biathelon events, and excelled at fire department obstacle course challenges. That morning he got up early to vote, then rode his bicycle from Queens to Squad 18 at Lafayette and Prince in Soho. They were one of the first companies called up. At 9:50 he placed one last phone call to his girlfriend from somewhere in the North Tower, leaving her a message of love and warning.

Virgilio’s remains were found that Saturday, along with other members of his Squad.