Amateur photographer captures iconic image of Ladder 118’s final run on 9/11

On the morning of the 9/11 attacks, Aaron McLamb, then a volunteer with the Jehovah’s Witnesses, noticed a huge blaze in the World Trade Center’s North Tower while working in a Brooklyn factory. He retrieved his 35 mm Canon Rebel 2000, ascended to the top floor of his building, and captured a striking shot of Ladder 118 racing across the Brooklyn Bridge toward the inferno. The photograph, later featured on the Daily News front page, has become one of the most recognized images of the tragedy, representing the self-sacrifice of the fire department.

All six crew members on Ladder 118—Joseph Agnello, Vernon Cherry, Scott Davidson, Leon Smith, Peter Vega, and Lt. Robert Egan—were killed when the South Tower fell, joining 343 FDNY personnel lost that day. After developing the film, McLamb brought the prints to the Middagh Street firehouse, where the firefighters, initially skeptical, verified the truck’s presence. The picture endures as a visual tribute to the fallen first responders.