Earl C. Johnson - 9-11 Survivor's Story

In March 2001, Earl Johnson accepted a job in New York and began 'commuting' from Bainbridge Island to his new office on the 51st floor of the World Trade Center.  His wife Arlene and their three children joined him in New York in August of that year.  On the morning of September 11, Johnson arrived at work half an hour earlier than usual.  He heard a loud explosion, followed by a shaking and swaying of the building so massive that he was lifted off the floor and thrown into a nearby wall.  Johnson's first thought was that this was a really big quake, only to realize that he was no longer in the Pacific Northwest.  The story of his narrow escape from the World Trade Center, as well as the pain and the courage he witnessed that day are captured in Stairwell to Heaven - A 9-11 World Trade Center Survivor's Story of Escape, Heroism.. and Family (2005).  Not long after the tragedy of that day, Johnson and his family moved back to Bainbridge Island where he served several years as Fire Commissioner of the Bainbridge Island Fire Department.