Lakewood Ranch resident Marvin Crepea survived the collapse of the World Trade Center 25 years ago and still remembers the moment he thought he would die.
Crepea, a retired U.S. Army captain, was 57 and working at North Fork Bank adjacent to the towers on Sept. 11, 2001. He had just stepped off the E train at about 8:30 a.m. and was crossing the World Trade Center promenade when he heard what he thought was a bomb.
He shared his account with Your Observer columnist Jay Heater in a column published Thursday, Sept. 10.
Crepea Describes Watching the Towers Fall
After the first plane struck, Crepea ran to the edge of the plaza and looked up. He saw smoke, fire and falling debris. He was speaking with a police officer when the second plane hit the south tower.
He headed toward his bank office on Broadway, looked up at the burning towers and sensed they would fall.
"I do remember clearly," Crepea told Heater. "I was thinking, 'This thing is going to fall.' And just as I said that, the tower started to come down."
He Crawled to Safety Through Thick Smoke
He crouched and rolled into a ball. Through smoke so thick he could not see, he felt along a wall. Someone in the group jimmied a door open, and between 15 and 30 people rushed inside. Crepea was knocked down and trampled as he crawled into the building on all fours. He tumbled down a stairwell but landed where the air was clearer.
After about 20 minutes, the group returned to the street. Dozens of empty shoes littered the ground.
Other Lakewood Ranch Residents Also Survived Attacks
Crepea is one of several Lakewood Ranch residents who lived through the attacks. Former New York City firefighters Steve Lubrino and Garrett Lindgren also survived and have spoken publicly about their experiences, as Your Observer reported separately.
Lubrino, a teacher at Lakewood Ranch Prep, was assigned to Ladder 102 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, on Sept. 11, 2001. He climbed 10 stories of the North Tower before the evacuation order came. As the North Tower collapsed, the force blew him through a Burger King window about 100 yards away. He was forced into retirement from the fire department in 2014 and now has 65% lung capacity.
Lindgren served with the New York City Fire Department's Rescue 3, headquartered in the Bronx and Harlem. He spent 11 consecutive days working at the site without going home and developed respiratory problems, toxic peripheral neuropathy and spinal stenosis. He was forced into retirement at age 42. He and his wife, Nancy, now live in Eagle Trace in Lakewood Ranch.
Lubrino to Speak at Friday's Commemoration Event
Lubrino's wife, Michelle, died unexpectedly on Aug. 12. He is scheduled to speak Friday, Sept. 11, at Lakewood Ranch Community Activities' 9/11 Commemoration at Greenbrook Adventure Park Pavilion, 13010 Adventure Place. The event runs from 8:30 to 10 a.m. The Lakewood Ranch Wind Ensemble will perform at the opening of the service.
