Joseph W. Pfeifer

In July 2018, Pfeifer retired from FDNY after 37 years of service, making him the last fire chief on site of the September 11 Attacks to leave the FDNY. On September 12, 2021, he was awarded with Knight of the Ordre national du Mérite at the Consulate General of France, New York City by Philippe Étienne, Ambassador of France to the United States.

After the September 11 attacks, Pfeifer left Battalion 1 and served as the Chief of Planning & Strategy of the FDNY Bureau of Operations. He also made his effort to create the CTDP, (Center for Terrorism and Disaster Preparedness) which was formally opened in 2004. On November 5, 2009, Pfeifer was promoted from Deputy Assistant Chief to Assistant Chief. During his tenure as the Chief of CTDP, Pfeifer played a vital role on the Effects of Hurricane Sandy in New York in 2012, served as an Incident Commander at the Metro North commuter train derailment at Spuyten Duyvil in 2013, and assisted in developing the Ebola response in NYC in 2014.

On September 11, 2001, Pfeifer, then Chief of Battalion 1, was the first fire chief to arrive at the North Tower of World Trade Center, witnessing the moment when American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower amid a gas leak inspection followed by French American documentary maker Jules and Gédéon Naudet at the intersection of Lispenard Street and Church Street. Setting up an Incident Command Post in North Tower's lobby, Pfeifer coordinated the rescue plan with other chiefs on site, and sent firefighters ascending to rescue people trapped above the impact zone. He survived the tsunami wave of debris caused by the collapse of South Tower, and managed to egress the North Tower under poor visibility, bringing a number of people out as well as the deceased Father Mychal Judge, Chaplain of FDNY.

Pfeifer married his wife, Ginny, on June 3, 1984. They have two children, respectively Christine the elder, and Greg the younger. Pfeifer's brother, Kevin J. Pfeifer, was also a FDNY firefighter, who died at the North Tower on the day of September 11, and had once reached the 32nd floor with Engine 33. Kevin was last seen by survivor FDNY Captain Dennis Tardio on the 9th floor of North Tower.

A native of Queens, New York, Pfeifer enrolled in the Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception in 1974 with major in psychology and a minor in philosophy, and graduated in 1978. started his career as a firefighter in 1981, with his first assignment to Engine 234 in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and promoted to Lieutenant in August 1987, then Battalion Chief in 1997.

Joseph W. “Joe” Pfeifer (born 1956) is a retired Assistant Chief of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) and the founder of the department's Center for Terrorism and Disaster Preparedness (CTDP). He was also a first responder and survivor of the September 11 attacks, and the first senior fire chief on site and responded to the World Trade Center on that day.