"I still can't sleep," Mottl says. Mottl knew the drain camera attached to a 150-ft. cable could help explore hard-to-reach places. Sure enough, when he described the camera system to Federal Emergency Management Agency officials, he was told to "get down here as soon as he could."

Mottl's two brothers, Bruce, also of Rhode Island, and Tim, from suburban Chicago, joined the effort. The brothers drove to New York City on Sept. 13, and arrived at one of the city's command posts early the following day.

Once at ground zero, Chris was surprised at how much better equipped he was with his drain camera than other rescue workers were. He said that the best that the fire department had was a camera mounted on a 6-ft. pole.

The brothers worked primarily at the head of the bucket brigades where a chain of workers methodically passed debris to dump trucks. While onsite, the brothers slept an hour or two each night on cots set up at a nearby school.