Pentagon 9/11
Serving Those Who Serve Our Country – The Pentagon Cleanup 
After Flight 77 tragically struck the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, one entire wedge – more than 6.5 million square feet — of the world’s largest office building was effectively destroyed by the plane’s impact and ensuing fire.
Who did Pentagon officials turn to? That’s right, ServiceMaster Clean®. Less than two hours after the tragedy, ServiceMaster Clean received the call and took the lead. Supplies and personnel from ServiceMaster Clean businesses as far away as Michigan were mobilized. Crews and supplies from 60 different locations then converged on Washington D.C.
Two 12-hour ServiceMaster Clean shifts – more than 300 employees – began working 24/7 to mitigate the damage and clean all surfaces to restore more than 17 miles of hallways, lobbies, and corridors. The cleanup and restoration was completed in nine and a half weeks.
The successful Pentagon restoration highlights ServiceMaster Cleans’ strengths in disaster restoration and management. In spite of the immense building size and the extraordinary security, the disaster restoration operation at the Pentagon differed very little from other disasters faced in our 50-year history. We mobilize a quick local response by trained professionals and back it up with the resources only a national company can provide.
“Cleaning the Pentagon is an understatement, what you did was put life back into the building. With your motivated attitudes, professionalism, cleaning ability and sincerity you made The Pentagon glow. “— Darryl Diggs
Pentagon Assistant Services Program Manager
8:46 a.m. September 11, 2001
An airplane crashes into the World Trade Center, the heartbreaking start of an unprecedented national disaster.
9:42 a.m.
The Pentagon is attacked. One entire edge of the world’s largest office building is effectively destroyed by the planes impact and ensuing fire.
11:30 a.m.
The phone rings at ServiceMaster, Springfield, Virginia. It’s the Pentagon. Would ServiceMaster be able to clean the five million square feet of office space covered with soot, smoke and water damage – with security considerations requiring that the work be done by full-time employees who were documented U.S. citizens, not temporary workers? The immediate answer? “Yes!”
Noon
ServiceMaster Recovery Management (SRM), headquartered in Memphis, initiates contact with the Pentagon The resources of the national SRM office would be needed to get this big catastrophic job done quickly.
Mid-afternoon
Planning meetings are in full swing at the SRM office in Memphis. SRM Catastrophic Project Managers get the first calls directing them to Washington D.C.
A ServiceMaster Clean Disaster Restoration crew is placed on 2-hour standby.
6:00 p.m.
Supplies and personnel from ServiceMaster Clean businesses from as far away as Michigan are mobilized. Crews and supplies from 60 different local ServiceMaster Clean businesses converge on Washington D.C.
8:00 a.m. September 12th
A crew of 50 trained ServiceMaster Clean professionals muster in front of the damaged side of the Pentagon. A walk-through to assess the situation reveals the size of the task.
Midday September 12th
Two 12-hour ServiceMaster Clean shifts start working 24/7 to mitigate the damage and clean all surfaces.
November 16, 2001
A day shift completes the restoration of the Pentagon. Five million square feet of office space, corridors, stairs and other facilities are brought back online.
