A Chicago fire chief rushed to Ground Zero after 9/11. 25 years later, the memories haven't faded.

Chicago District Fire Chief Douglas Crowley is one of the last remaining active duty CFD firefighters who responded to Ground Zero in Manhattan after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

He didn't think twice. He said he saw the planes strike the World Trade Center and ran home to pack his bags.

"The decision was a two second thing," Crowley said. "It was immediate. It had to be done."

Crowley grew up on the South Side of Chicago. He watched the sacrifices of the New York Fire Department, New York's bravest, unfold on television.

"A lot of firefighters across this whole country would have made the exact same choices as they made," he said.

Moments later, he was on the road to Ground Zero.

"A group of us got together, loaded our tools up in a truck and just started driving," he said.

When they arrived, they saw the massive mound of debris left by the two collapsed skyscrapers.

"The scale of destruction is breathtaking," Crowley remembered. "It was like nothing I've ever seen before. I'd seen descriptions of war zones an this matched up to that; in fact, it exceeded it."

They had a mission.

"When we got there, we were there to support the rescue efforts," he said.

But they weren't able to rescue anyone. Instead, rescue turned into recovery, digging through debris to find bodies, or in some cases body parts.

They worked to provide closures to families, and each and every time they found something they paid their respects.

"The understanding of when there's an all-stop, when all the work stops and essentially a recovery is made," he said.

Crowley and his Chicago group slept on the ground of a New York firehouse and worked at the site for about a week.

"We didn't realize the scale of destruction," he said. "Everybody drove out there thinking there was somebody to be rescued. Everyone thought there were lives to be saved. The outcome was the outcome, and no one should feel good about it."

Now that 25 years have passed, he thinks there's more to take away from that national tragedy.

"We talk about 'never forget.' And never forget is a good sentiment. But I'd build on that. I think we need to be better. We nee to learn and we need to continue to learn from it," Crowley said.

Crowley said the way that they train at the Chicago Fire Department has forever changed since 9/11. IN the weeks after the attack, groups from Chicago went back to New York to sit and support families who lost loved ones that day.

Crowley hopes that by hearing his story now, it can help the younger generation grow to understand what happened on that day.