October• 2018 | 119READER’S DIGEST
theseupperstoreys,thesmokewas
so concentrated that responders had
toputtheirmasksrightupagainst
the doors to read the apartment
numbers. When Badillo and his
partner found the correct door, it
was ajar, as if the young girl – Jessica- had already f led.
Nevertheless, the two firefighters
searched inside, feeling their way
along the walls, shouting, shouting,
until they were convinced that nobody
was inside, and until the air tank on
Badillo’s partner’s back began to let
out a high-pitched whistle, warning
that air was running out. They had to
give up on the 12-year-old girl, or they
were going to die.
Badilloandhispartneraban-
doned the 20th-f loor apartment
and regained the stairwell. They
were heat-stressed to the verge of
collapse when they made it down to
the ground.
Firefighters made hundreds of
choices that night about whether to
help those in peril in the stairwellthatnight.Hisbodywaslaterfound
onthegroundnearthetower.He’d
jumped.ThemanfromAfghanistan
alsojumped,andwasfoundonthe
ground.Theartistonthe16thfloor
wasidentifiedbyherdentalrecords,
thecatererbyhisDNA.
People died in the stairwells;
people died near the lifts; people
died in their homes. They spoke on
mobile phones to the emergency
servicesandtofamilyandfriends,
inanynumberoflanguages,until
lines disconnected or they just fell
silent.Relativesofthemotherof
threeonthe22ndfloorwouldlater
say her final words to them were
aboutforgiveness.“Youseemedto
know that heaven was waiting for
you,”theysaid.
Firefighters that night led, carried,
anddraggedresidentsawayfromthe
fire. And they left residents behind
toit.Theymadehundredsofno-win
decisions.
Thegirlonthe20thfloor–the
12-year-old sister of the anxious
womaninthelobby–wasnever
foundbyDavidBadillo.
WhentheliftthatBadillowasrid-
ingopeneditsdoorshalfwayupthe
tower,hehadtoinchhisway,blind,
to the escape stairwell. He ran down
the stairs to the ground floor, where
he retrieved a breathing apparatus
and found another firefighter will-
ingtoaccompanyhimbackinside
–backup.Theyclimbed20flights
to the girl’s apartment. By now, on
FIREFIGHTERS HAD
TO AIM HOSES AT ONE
OF THEIR OWN TRUCKS,
WHICH HAD BEEN
IGNITED BY THE
FALLING CLADDING