September 11 attacks On September 11, 2001, Pfeifer was Chief of Battalion 1 and therefore responsible for the southern tip of Manhattan, including the World Trade Center. He had celebrated his 20th anniversary with the FDNY six days earlier and was therefore eligible for retirement. That was the last time he ever saw his brother. He continued to manage the unprecedented crisis after the crash of
United Airlines Flight 175 into the South Tower at 9:03 a.m. As people began jumping to escape the intense fire and smoke in the towers, Pfeifer tried in vain to ask them to wait to be rescued over the building's
public address system. bringing with him a number of survivors as well as the body of his friend and FDNY Chaplain, Father
Mychal Judge. Coated in dust, the battalion chief regrouped with Deputy Chief Peter Hayden to coordinate the first rescue efforts. He also made his effort to create the CTDP On November 7, 2009, Pfeifer was promoted from Deputy Assistant Chief to Assistant Chief. During his tenure as the Chief of CTDP, Pfeifer played a vital role on the
effects of Hurricane Sandy in New York in 2012, served as an Incident Commander at the
Metro North commuter train derailment at Spuyten Duyvil in 2013, and assisted in developing the
Ebola response in NYC in 2014. making him the last fire chief on site of the September 11 attacks to leave the FDNY. On August 7, 2024, Pfeifer was appointed to acting
Fire Commissioner after FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh stepped down from her role. He served as Fire Commissioner until August 12, 2024, when Robert S. Tucker was appointed by Mayor
Eric Adams. In an
ABC interview on September 9, 2024, Pfeifer announced he would be retiring again from the FDNY. Pfeifer stated his last day would be September 11, 2024. Pfeifer told ABC that he chose September 11 to be his last day because "that was the day I worked the hardest". Pfeifer told ABC he plans to write another book and teach at
Columbia University. == FDNY Ranks ==