Lit benches in Arlington County, Va., serve as a memorial honoring those killed at the Pentagon during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
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Throughout more than 35 years in the fire service, Chief Edward Plaugher (ret.) made sure to be ready for the moments no one ever wants to face.
From large-scale emergencies to the daily demands of the job, the current assistant executive director for national programs and consulting services at the International Association of Fire Chiefs has made meticulous preparation a bold line on his resume.
On Sept. 11, 2001, that preparation was put to the ultimate test. As chief of the Arlington County Fire Department, Plaugher led the response to the terrorist attack on the Pentagon and the regional response that followed.
“Our preparedness was the real back story of our response on 9/11,” he said.
Twenty-five years later, Plaugher will be honored for his career and signature response efforts at the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation’s “A Night of Honor: When the World Stopped, They Stood.”
He will be recognized alongside Fire Chief Terry Shaffer of the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Department, who led the response to the crash of United Flight 93, and Chief of Department Peter J. Ganci Jr. of the FDNY, who was killed while leading rescue operations in the North Tower.
Together, they represent the full scope of fire-service leadership on 9/11 — from the first moments of response to the ultimate sacrifice — and the lasting responsibility to carry those lessons forward.
Held during FDIC International 2026 in Indianapolis, Indiana, on April 23, “A Night of Honor” will be dedicated to honoring the courage, leadership, and sacrifice of the fire service as the 25th anniversary of 9/11 approaches.
The events leading up to and after that day are just as vivid today as they were then — and for Plaugher, just as instructive to the job of firefighting.
A Career Rooted in Response
Chief Ed Plaugher’s journey to Pentagon response efforts started at the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, where he entered as a firefighter in 1969. Over the next 16 years, he moved through the ranks to become deputy fire chief in 1985 before becoming chief of the Arlington County Fire Department in 1993.
He learned a lot in those roles, even as they splintered off into stints as arson investigator, apparatus officer, and fire marshal for Fairfax County. In all these positions, one thing was a constant, even in his earliest days.
“I learned to remain calm under very, very difficult circumstances,” said Plaugher. “Throughout my career, I spent an enormous amount of energy and time not just fighting fire, but knowing the preparedness effort, no matter where I served.”
He had a knack for remaining level-headed when critical response plans were needed. He traces it back to 1995 after separate attacks rocked Oklahoma City and Tokyo, Japan.
Learning from Past Incidents
On March 20, 1995, an orchestrated sarin gas attack on the Tokyo Metro killed 14 and severely injured 50 passengers. Nearly a month later, the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, claimed 168 victims, making it the deadliest act of homegrown terrorism in U.S. history.
In the wake of both events, Plaugher saw the need to assemble a terrorist response team in the Washington Metropolitan area. He started the Metropolitan Medical Strike Team (MMST) in Arlington, funded by the U.S. Public Health Service Office of Emergency Preparedness and comprised of such personnel as firefighters, paramedics, doctors, and hazardous materials technicians.
All of these organizations worked together to hone their response capabilities to emergencies or possible terrorist attacks, and actually conducted strength exercises at the Pentagon, one of the world’s largest municipal office buildings.
That preparation would soon be tested in the most unimaginable way.
Meeting the Moment
On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, American Airlines Flight 77 was hijacked and crashed into the Pentagon, killing all passengers on board and 125 individuals in the building.
Because of Chief Plaugher’s work with the MMST, the Arlington County Fire Department was appointed the lead agency in the immediate Pentagon response efforts.
Over the previous years, the MMST team had laid the groundwork to be successful in this role, coalescing with all 17 political jurisdictions in the Washington Metro area, facilitating Incident Command System training for fire chiefs, and building relationships with personnel across the Pentagon.
In the aftermath of the attack, their years of experience positioned Plaugher’s team to communicate effectively with federal and local agencies, manage personnel at multiple levels, and respond to needs quickly—all while laser-focused on the work in front of them.
The Arlington County Fire Department After-Action Report was shared with other fire departments across the nation. Their work has since become critical in informing emergency response teams across the U.S., and the 9-11 Commission’s Final Report praised the coordination and control of its response to the Pentagon attack.
Preparing for the Work Ahead
In the years that followed his work aiding the Pentagon attack, Plaugher facilitated the establishment of the National Medical Response System, a federally coordinated partnership that provides surge medical personnel, equipment, and supplies to assist state and local authorities during disasters, public health emergencies, or national security events.
Following his retirement in 2004, he was commended by the United States Senate and the House of Delegates on the completion of an exemplary career of service to the citizens of Arlington, the Commonwealth, and the nation as an expression of the admiration, respect, and gratitude of the General Assembly.
We’re proud to recognize Chief Plaugher and his fellow fire chiefs at April’s “A Night of Honor,” adding another chapter to an already distinguished career. But more importantly, the award reinforces a lesson that resonates today and extends to the next generation of firefighters.
Being ready for the unthinkable is part of the job.
That’s what carries firefighters through the crises they cannot predict.
As Chief Ed Plaugher has shown, the work done before the call comes in may be what saves lives when it matters most.
*To learn more about the work of the NFFF, visit www.firehero.org.*
*To learn more about “A Night of Honor” on April 23, visit firehero.org/a-night-of-honor.*
