A SENIOR Lancashire fire officer has relived the moment he was told one of his best friends was killed in the aftermath of New York terrorist attacks -- buried beneath the rubble when the World Trade Centre crashed down.

And John Williamson, Lancashire Fire and Rescue's assistant chief officer, revealed that his friend of 15 years had been due to return to Lancashire, where he had visited several fire stations in the past, later this year to give a speech on catching arsonists.

Mr Williamson spent most of Tuesday trying to contact the wife of New York Fire Chief Peter Ganci after watching the World Trade Centre towers crumble less than an hour after being hit by hijacked jets.

He finally spoke to Mr Ganci's wife in the early hours of yesterday morning -- only to be told that the man he first met on a work trip to New York was feared dead.

Today he said: "I feared he would have been in there. He was such a hands-on guy. He insisted on leading from the front, I knew he would have been there.

"Everyone here was stunned when those buildings collapsed. No-one has ever seen anything like this before.

"I tried to contact his wife, Kathy, all Tuesday night but the phones were engaged. I finally got through at 4.30am and she told me they thought he was dead.

"That is an experience I never have to want to go through again. It was awful. He was such a great man."

In a cruel twist of fate, it was Mr Ganci who had shown Mr Williamson the beauty of the views from the top of the World Trade Centre 15 years ago when the Lancashire fire officer was sent to learn how Americans investigate arson.

Mr Williamson added: "I was sent over there and we got on very well. He has been here several times to give talks.

"I first went up one of the towers with him 15 years ago. It was a must-see tourist attraction, even bigger that the Empire State Building. It was so lavishly done, the windows were engraved with attractions and you could match them up to the actual landmarks themselves.

"Even with a fireman's jaundiced eye, you could tell it was packed with safety features but nothing could survive that.

"It was Pete who showed me the building first. He has visited us and myself and my wife have been over there on several occasions to his house in Long Island."

Mr Ganci had visited Lancashire several times, delivering speeches about arson at conferences.

Mr Williamson added: "He had also visited a lot of fire stations across the area. He was a fantastic person to know. He got on with everyone he met, he found it just as easy to chat to crews as he did to chief officers. He just wasn't a sit-behind-a-desk sort of bloke."

Mr Ganci had been due to give another speech later on in the year in Lancashire.

Mr Williamson added: "Words cannot describe what has happened. So many dedicated people have lost their lives. People compare it to Pearl Harbour, but this makes that pale into insignificance.

He had a great future ahead of him. He had been offered a tenure in his post by the mayor, which is very unusual. He could have retired and held an important civilian post if he had wanted to. Words cannot describe what has happened."

A spokesman for Lancashire Fire and Rescue said: "Many officers will have met Mr Ganci. To see so many firemen die has brought the tragedy closer to home."

Sixteen fire officers from Lancashire were today still waiting to see if they will be called up as part of a British rescue team to help search the wreckage of the towers for survivors.