  We calculate, using our recently proposed semiclassical framework, the
quantum state of the Hawking pairs that are produced during the evaporation of
a black hole (BH). Our framework adheres to the standard rules of quantum
mechanics and incorporates the quantum fluctuations of the collapsing shell
spacetime in Hawking's original calculation, while accounting for back-reaction
effects. We argue that the negative-energy Hawking modes need to be regularly
integrated out; and so these are effectively subsumed by the BH and, as a
result, the number of coherent negative-energy modes $N_{coh}$ at any given
time is parametrically smaller than the total number of the Hawking particles
$N_{total}$ emitted during the lifetime of the BH. We find that $N_{coh}$ is
determined by the width of the BH wavefunction and scales as the square root of
the BH entropy. We also find that the coherent negative-energy modes are
strongly entangled with their positive-energy partners. Previously, we have
found that $N_{coh}$ is also the number of coherent outgoing particles and that
information can be continually transferred to the outgoing radiation at a rate
set by $N_{coh}$. Our current results show that, while the BH is semiclassical,
information can be released without jeopardizing the nearly maximal inside-out
entanglement and imply that the state of matter near the horizon is
approximately the vacuum. The BH firewall proposal, on the other hand, is that
the state of matter near the horizon deviates substantially from the vacuum,
starting at the Page time. We find that, under the usual assumptions for
justifying the formation of a firewall, one does indeed form at the Page time.
However, the possible loophole lies in the implicit assumption that the number
of strongly entangled pairs can be of the same order of $N_{total}$.
