Alec Baldwin is revealing that firefighters sneaked him and his brother, Billy Baldwin, down to the World Trade Center site in New York City just days after the terrorist attacks in 2001.
In commemorating the 19th anniversary of the attacks, Alec recalled that he and Billy decided to head toward Ground Zero on Sept 17, 2001. As they got closer to the site, the brothers noticed that the police and military presence was getting more and more prevalent. Alec and Billy, who were both on foot, soon realized that they weren't going to get close to the site because of all the barricades.
However, one fireman noticed Billy and had a soft spot for "Backdraft," a 1991 film in which he starred.
"These firemen see my brother Billy and — this is just a fact that I find very charming, and that's that my brother Billy is a very beloved, honorary fireman wherever he goes because of the movie 'Backdraft,'" Alec said on Instagram. "Firemen love Billy because he was in 'Backdraft,' which heroicizes firefighters."
The fireman asked Billy and Alec if they were going to go to "the pit," which was where the Twin Towers collapsed. The Baldwins relayed that they weren't able to get there because they were civilians and not authorized.
"The guy gets off the truck and underneath his jacket, he's got a uniform. So he doesn't need the jacket as an identifier," Alec said. "They put the coats on us, they put the hats on us, they put us in the back of the [truck] and we go down there."
Alec continued, "We have the hats on, we keep our heads down low as we go past these cops and these military people and we go to the site, to the pit, which was every bit as horrific as you could possibly imagine. Just horrible."
The scene was very "macabre," he said, remembering the World Trade Center as a once "stunning piece of engineering."
"All flattened, all an ashtray, chunks of spike and spurs and metals sticking out the ground," he said. "And you could smell death, you could smell dead bodies there. … People wore masks because it was a very strong smell."
The brothers stayed there for a while. Upon leaving, firefighters wanted to take pictures with Billy. "They couldn't care less about me," Alec happily mused.
A few months later, Alec and Billy returned to the World Trade Center site to help serve Christmas dinner to first responders.
In ending his lengthy story, Alec said, "My thoughts are with and my heart goes out to those who lost people in 9/11. Today is September 11th and in New York that has special meaning. … Here's to the people who perished in the September 11th attacks 19 years ago today."