FDNY commander said south tower implosion "too even" to be caused by jet fuel
A man described as "the premiere collapse expert in the country" thought the collapse of the south tower of the WTC was caused by explosives and not jet fuel, before the implosion of the north tower killed him on 9/11.
Deputy Chief Ray Downey, the head of the FDNY's Special Operations Command, was also described by colleagues as "the most knowledgeable person on building collapses there was," and 9/11 Commissioner Timothy Roemer referred to Downey as a "very, very respected expert on building collapse."
According to a World Trade Center Task Force interview with FDNY' Chaplain Father John Delendick, immediately after the collapse of the south tower at 9:59am, Delendick met with Downey below the nearby World Financial Center and asked him if jet fuel had brought about the bizarre and sudden implosion of the building. According to Delendick, Downey "said at that point he thought there were bombs up there because it was too even."
Downey was a highly respected figure, having commanded rescue operations at both the 1993 WTC bombing and the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. His colleagues simply referred to him as "God" or "The Master of Disaster".
Downey was a 39-year FDNY veteran and the most highly decorated firefighter in its history.
Deputy Chief Raymond M. Downey, Commanding Officer of the Special Operations Command (SOC), died in the line of duty, while helping others escape from the fire and collapse scene of the twin towers at the World Trade Center on Tuesday, September 11, 2001.
Fire Chief Mike Antonucci, Downey's best friend, said that Downey's hobby was "To study building collapses, what affected the engineering of buildings, how they [would] weaken and how he could respond and stay safe."
The weight of Downey's eyewitness testimony and his conclusion that bombs brought down the south tower is of massive significance as we approach the anniversary of 9/11, a date of mourning for Downey's family due to the fact that he was tragically killed later that day following the collapse of the north tower as he tried to help others escape.
Downey's testimony is added to the assertions of hundreds of leading academics, scientists, former government and military officials and researchers, who have all questioned the impossible collapse of both the twin towers and WTC 7, and singled out incendiary or explosive devices as the only means by which the structures could have fell in the manner they did.
