9/11, Ten Years Later: Falls Company Made an Impact

When the World Trade Center towers collapsed, thousands were stuck beneath the rubble. For months, emergency workers sifted through the scorched remains attempting to find survivors. When workers at UEMSI in Menomonee Falls saw those images on television, they knew they could help. UEMSI specializes in building snake cameras tailored for pipeline inspections in industrial uses. But suddenly, the company was presented with a new, unplanned use of its equipment. In the days following 9/11, UEMSI sent a series of its hand-built cameras to Ground Zero. UEMSI employee Brian Kotecki demonstrates the snake camera at their laboratory in 2011. Kotecki isn’t sure how many people were found using the cameras, but he is encouraged to know the company helped make a difference.