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McDonald's Hero
Tuesday
October 2, 2001
They may seem like long lost friends, but in fact they were brought together under the worst of circumstances and on the darkest of days.
The day had a surreal beginning. The World Trade Center Towers, just four blocks away from Lloyd Frazier's McDonald's store, were ablaze. Lloyd says, “The fire came up this way, because it hit from the south, and I knew there was serious trouble.”
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After clearing out most of his employees, the towers began to collapse. Frazier says, “There's this horrible sound that the building makes before it comes down. It sounds just like a jet taking off.”
People ran screaming. The sky, it seemed, was falling. Frazier went out for a look and quickly realized his mistake. He says, “Down it came. And this avalanche of ash and smoke … it was coming up the street and we made it inside.”
But outside with nowhere to hide was police officer Daniel McFadden. Frazier says, “I see it come over the top of the building. But he can't see it. I yelled to him, ‘get over here. Get over here now.’”
McFadden says, “I heard someone say, 'It's falling. Run.’ And like tunnel vision all I saw was the door of McDonald's open.”
Once inside, day turned to night, and the street darkened by the storm of debris. Frazier had saved officer McFadden's life, but his work that day wasn't done. McFadden says, “About 30 seconds later, you see a dim light come up to the door and just tapping on it.”
Those safely inside demanded the door stay shut. Frazier says, “People that were in the store were yelling at us, ‘don’t open the door.’”
McFadden says, “Lloyd, without hesitation, opens the door. And in came a ghost. This was a ghost of a fireman. From the top of his helmet to the bottom of his boots he was gray.”
And then, within hours, Frazier got two McDonald's’ mobile units into the area to feed the rescue workers - over 500,000 served. Frazier says, “I had a firefighter say to me, ‘you're my hero.' I was like, ‘oh no buddy. You're the hero.”
And Frazier's store became Hotel McDonald's for dozens of rescue officers who sought a few hours to doze. Lloyd Frazier became a hero to many at Ground Zero, especially to McFadden. Of his new hero status, Frazier says, “The heroes are down there in that horror. I just helped some people out of a tough spot.”
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