Since he was now below the crash site the sprinklers had come on making the descent much easier. The firefighter examined him and told Ron to go down to the bottom where he would be cared for. Ron reached the firefighter and told him he couldn't breathe. While he could not see in the smoke, the firefight said to come in the direction of his voice further down the stairs. Then he heard a second voice, the voice of a firefighter. He cannot really explain exactly whose voice it was, but he drew strength and faith from it to continue downward despite the burns. Overcome with smoke he was about to give up. Now there was also fire down below and despite using a piece of drywall to shield himself from the heat, as he proceeded his body was being burned. Unable to go up, once again he turned to go down facing the billowing smoke coming up the staircase like a smokestack. A sense of doom descended on him and the rest of the people trapped between the floors. For perhaps the first time, Ron DiFrancesco realized he was no longer in control of the events in his life. Since the right tip of the wing of the plane hit the tower above his floor, that part of the tower was on fire. He heeded the warning and made his way over to the elevators. As news reports started coming in giving more accurate accounts of what was happening, Ron got a telephone call from his good friend in Canada telling him to get out of his building. They could see that the flames from the crash were forcing people in the North Tower to flee and in some cases to jump to escape the fire. As the phones started ringing and people started asking Ron and the other employees there what happened, they surmised that a small plane had lost its way and accidentally hit the building. They did not know yet that a hijacked plane had been involved. When the first plane hit the North Tower, the people in his office heard the crash and saw the flames and smoke emanating from that building. As a Canadian he felt as if it was a unique honor for him to have been appointed to his position and to be working in the World Trade Center, regarded by many as the most prestigious building in Manhattan. He was a manager at Euro Brokers' office on the 84th floor. immigration work visa in the South Tower of the World Trade Center on 9/11. Ron DiFrancesco was a Canadian working on a U.S.
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