Patrick J. Brown

September 11 attacks

On September 11, 2001, Brown arrived at Ladder Company 3 at 8:00 am to report for duty. The first plane struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center about 45 minutes later, as the firefighters from the overnight shift were going off duty. The truck from Ladder Company 3 reported to the World Trade Center site carrying firefighters from both shifts, parking on West Street near Vesey Street, and Brown proceeded to climb Stairwell B in the North Tower along with the men from his company. Captain Jay Jonas of Ladder Company 6, who first met Brown that morning, said Paddy told him, "Jay, don't even bother reporting in. They are just going to send you upstairs."

Upon reaching the 35th floor, Brown found a working telephone and called the dispatcher to give a report on the situation and asked to relay his message to the command post in the lobby. He concluded the phone call by saying, "Three Truck and we are still heading up. Okay? Thank you." After the South Tower collapsed, Ladder Company 3 and Ladder Company 6 were instructed to evacuate the building. Brown's last words were recorded in a radio transmission as saying, "This is the officer of Ladder Co. 3. I refuse the order! I am on the 44th floor and we have too many burned people with me. I am not leaving them!"

Legacy

Brown's remains were recovered from the rubble of the North Tower on December 14, 2001. Later that month, his ashes were spread along a path he often jogged on in Central Park, at a spot near the Great Lawn he had marked on a map. The map was included in a letter to Patrick's brother kept in his locker at Ladder Company 3 and was intended to be opened in the event of his death. That walk is located near the apartment where he resided in Stuyvesant Town. The following year, Brown's former girlfriend Sharon Watts compiled a collection of articles, interviews and messages in her book Miss You, Pat. Before he became a medical doctor and a member of Urban Search and Rescue Nevada Task Force 1, Michael spent four years as a firefighter with the FDNY. With flights grounded after the September 11th attacks, he drove from Las Vegas to New York City and joined rescue workers at Ground Zero to searching for his brother and other missing firefighters. Jennifer Murphy's 2022 book First Responder tells the story of Patrick and Michael, who ultimately succumbed to 9/11-related cancer.

At the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, Brown is memorialized at the South Pool, on Panel S-8, along with other first responders. His name was placed next to the other firefighters from Ladder Company 3 and above Captain Terence Hatton from Rescue Company 1, a close friend. The damaged remains of the fire truck that carried Brown and the other men of Ladder Company 3 to the World Trade Center site is on display at the museum; A helmet belonging to Captain Brown is also displayed at the museum.