James Hanlon has been a New York firefighter for over nine years. His firehouse is situated only a few blocks from the site of the World Trade Center, a place now universally known as Ground Zero.

Chief Pfeiffer had 47 shards of glass removed from his eyes but we never knew until months later - he never told any of us

James Hanlon

During his service, death has been a frequent visitor among the city's fire crews.

He told BBC News Online: "In my first eight years of service over 20 firefighters died - it is always difficult to cope with but you move on, you have to."

But even this death toll pales in comparison to the 343 men who died on 11 September while trying to help others out of the Twin Towers.

In a bid to alleviate the loss of so many colleagues and the horrors of the rescue mission, the then New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani made professional counsellors available to each fire house.

Everyday heroes

But James says he knows of no firefighter who turned to a counsellor - saying they would prefer to talk to each other.

Firefighters "just get on with it"

He said: "We are a family, we really are. We'd talk to each other, if at all. We know what each other went through."

James also explained that while the public might perceive them as heroes, to them it's a job that they "just get on with".

To illustrate the point, he talks about how his Battalion Chief, who was one of the first at the World Trade Center after the first plane smashed into the North Tower, did not even discuss his injuries with his men.

"Every day Chief Pfeiffer spent two hours at the doctors, he never told us why. We found out later he was having glass removed from his eyes.

"In total, he had 47 shards of glass removed from his eyes, but we never knew until months later. He just went there every day, but never told any of us."

No need for counsellors

We didn't notice the candlelight vigils, or even Christmas and New Year

James Hanlon

James says once a week the counsellor assigned to his own firehouse would arrive to be on hand if anyone wanted to talk.

He said: "We were always perfectly courteous to her. We'd say 'hi' and take her out back and cook her something to eat, then we'd say goodbye and send her on her way.'"

James acknowledged that the search for survivors in the wake of the attacks was "beyond discouraging".

He said that the search at Ground Zero was so intense it became all-consuming, so much so that he and many others did not even notice the candlelight vigils for victims, or even Christmas or New Year.

Non-stop search

He said: "The sentiment of everyone who is a fireman is that you want to help, if we could have found somebody alive it would have given us hope.

"That's why the guys weren't stopping, we were cutting ourselves, hurting ourselves, but everyone kept working.

Chief Pfeiffer inside Tower One after Tower Two collapsed

"Standing on the pile [Ground Zero] the ground beneath you was constantly moving."

He described how they regularly searched the subway under the ruins without finding any bodies, let alone survivors.

"It became extremely discouraging, then it starts to settle in what happened, the enormity of what happened.

"That was hard for everybody, but you deal with it. You keep working and you keep going."

Chief Pfeiffer has now been promoted to department Deputy Chief - with special responsibility for acts of terrorism, a promotion awarded in light of his conduct on 11 September.