Joseph Pfeifer was the first New York City Fire Department chief at the World Trade Center following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He was one of the firefighters following the attacks who brought his family to Hawai’i later that year on invitation from the state to come rest and experience the aloha spirit.
Pfeifer will deliver the keynote address at the 2026 Hawai‘i Tourism Conference on Sept. 24-25 at Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikīkī Beach Resort on O‘ahu.
Hawai‘i’s hospitality professionals, stewards of natural resources and community tourism initiatives, government officials and visitor industry leaders will come together for the 2-day conference.
This year’s theme is “Ke Kahu o ka Mālamalama — Guardians of the Light: Honoring Our Stories, Advancing Knowledge, Inspiring a Path Forward,” inviting participants to reflect on their shared responsibility as caretakers of Hawai‘i’s visitor industry and communities it touches.
Pfeifer will open the conference by recounting the journey that brought him and his family to Hawai‘i and the experience he had in the islands. He recalls, “Wherever we went, Hawai‘i took care of us,” in his New York Times best-selling book “Ordinary Heroes, A Memoir of 9/11.”
The retired firefighter will describe how the visit became part of his healing and stayed with him and his family.
He also will reflect, now nearly 25 years after that visit, about Hawai‘i’s role during that difficult period and share lessons in emergency response, preparedness and leadership drawn from a 39-year career with the New York City Fire Department.
“Chief Pfeifer’s story is a powerful reminder that the care people experience in Hawai‘i can stay with them long after they return home,” said Hawai‘i Tourism Authority Interim President and Chief Executive Officer Caroline Anderson in a agency release. “His keynote brings that story full circle, while giving our visitor industry an opportunity to learn from a leader who has guided people through extraordinary emergencies.”
Pfeifer retired in 2018 as an assistant chief and founding director of the New York City Fire Department Center for Terrorism and Disaster Preparedness. He returned in 2023 as first deputy commissioner and later served as acting fire commissioner through 2024, overseeing 17,000 firefighters, EMS personnel and administrative employees, plus a multibillion-dollar budget.
The former firefighter commanded responses throughout his career to some of New York City’s most significant fires and emergencies, including Sept. 11, “Miracle on the Hudson” and Superstorm Sandy. He testified before U.S. Congress and addressed the United Nations.
Pfeifer also is an adjunct professor at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs and senior fellow at Harvard Kennedy School and Combating Terrorism Center at West Point.
General attendee registration for the 2026 Hawai‘i Tourism Conference is $350, plus applicable fees. The first 500 people to register receive a copy of “Ordinary Heroes” upon conference registration.
View the conference schedule and register now online.
