A West Haven man has a miraculous Sept. 11 survival story.

Retired FDNY Lt. Mickey Kross is one of the few people who survived the World Trade Center collapse.

“Well, it was a fairly normal day,” Kross said. “Up to that point.”

Kross was working a 24-hour shift on Sept. 11, 2001. He was preparing for a busy day – of doing building inspections.

“I’m getting my paperwork ready, having a cup of coffee,” he said. “And I hear that a plane had struck the north tower.”

Like most other firefighters, Kross and his team from Engine 16 raced to the scene.

“The whole top of the building was burning. Like, holy cannoli! I didn’t expect that,” he said. “And then, of course, the second plane hitting, I realized. I said to myself, ‘We’re at war.’”

Kross immediately went in.

“We got up, upstairs, to about the 20-something floor, I think, and the south tower collapsed. We didn’t know the south tower went down right away,” Kross said. “Our building shook. I thought it was the elevators coming down. You know, breaking and coming down. That’s what I thought.”

Then came the call. Get out of the building.

“We got an urgent message on the radio,” Kross said. “Evacuate the north tower.”

In Stairwell B, Kross and his men stopped along the way to help a woman and her boss. It’s decision that likely saved his life.

“She slowed us up,” he said. “Which, in a way, probably saved our lives. Because, had we got down to the lobby – the lobby was a disaster. It all collapsed in the lobby.”

Kross made it to the fifth floor when the building came down.

“I grabbed my helmet and I ducked in a corner, a little corner … I was trying to crawl into my helmet,” he said. “And everything went black. It went from this tremendous roar – this tremendous noise – to total silence.”

Kross found himself buried in debris and all alone. Or so he thought.

“For a few seconds, I didn't know if I was dead or alive. I really didn't know,” he said. “And then my radio started crackling, my walkie-talkie I had on.”

Soon, Kross heard voices. More than a dozen others – including the two office workers – had also survived the collapse in the stairwell.

“We’re on the radio,” he said. “We’re calling ‘mayday’ and trying to tell them where we are.”

For hours, the group sat in silence with no reply on the radio.

“And all of a sudden, a beam of sunlight comes in. Like a miracle,” Kross said. “And I'm looking out, and I see the sky.”

The group was rescued moments later. Only then did they realize that both twin towers were gone.

“I came out to total destruction,” he said. “The world had just totally changed.”

In the moments after, Kross wrote his girlfriend a simple note on the back of a political campaign leaflet. It read, “I’m OK. Talk to you later.”

That note is now in the 9/11 Memorial Museum at the World Trade Center site. Kross’ now-wife, Christine, also donated the helmet that saved his life.

“We've been in the museum, looking at it ourselves,” she said. “And it’s jolting.”

After his brush with death, Kross stayed at ground zero.

“I stayed on the pile. I worked there for nine months,” he said. “I felt obligated. I felt an obligation to stay there.”

Kross helped find several other survivors. But just before Christmas, he also discovered one of the men from his firehouse.

“I found my friend's body,” he said. “I found one of the guys I worked with.”

Kross’ survival story has brought him a lot of attention, including a photo in Vogue Magazine by famed photographer Annie Liebovitz. Kross also met with President Barack Obama at the 9/11 museum dedication in 2011.

“I met so many politicians over the years,” he said.

But behind the scenes, Kross struggled with the memories of that day.

“I was in the bar every day,” he said. “And so, that almost killed me. And then I stopped that.”

Kross retired from FDNY in 2006, and just moved to West Haven this year. More than two decades later, he still wonders how we survived.

“You know, I can’t answer that question. I don't know why,” he said. “Why 3,000 people – almost 3,000 people – died and I survived.”

This year, the West Haven Fire Department escorted Kross to the 9/11 Remembrance Day event in New York. Later in the day, his new hometown honored his service at West Haven’s annual vigil.

There is much more to Kross’ story, including two near-death experiences before 9/11.

Watch News 12 Connecticut’s full interview here: