It is the sounds of sirens I remember most. I was pulled from a story in St. Paul, ordered to go to Hennepin County Medical Center, because "a bridge was down."

The call came at the end our shift...on a very slow news day. My photographer Jason Hanson and I didn't know any details, until we went over the Interstate-94 bridge and saw the sky filled with smoke and debris.

The plume alone---the first clue that this was big.

Despite the Twins game, there was not much traffic in Minneapolis that night. It was after six o'clock on a beautiful summer evening. It was quiet...except for the sirens. They filled the air, coming from all directions. We could hear the sirens of the emergency vehicles, long before they arrived. It was eerie.

Fire trucks, ambulances, even personal vehicles carried injured people from the 35 W bridge collapse to the hospital. When they rolled into the emergency room entrance, the hospital staff kicked it into high gear.

As the hours passed, people started showing up, searching for loved ones who might have been taken to HCMC for care. The shock and fear were still fresh on their faces. Many took time out to speak with reporters about who they wanted to find. The people brought to HCMC and other hospitals were lucky...they survived the 35-W bridge collapse.

But many are still struggling with their injuries and will for the rest of their lives. I am thinking of them on this first anniversary, and of the rescue crews who rushed them to safety....the sirens of the emergency vehicles leading the way.