It was a quiet and solemn morning at the Santa Barbara County Fire headquarters as the sun rose on the 24th anniversary of Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Only a soft chatter of conversation filled the air as people waited for the annual remembrance ceremony to begin.
Fire Chief Mark Hartwig took to the podium and asked who in the crowd remembered Sept. 11, 2001, which elicited a handful of raised hands.
“One of the things that strikes me every year is how few people remember,” he said. “We have firefighters on the job today that weren’t born on 9/11 so it’s our job to talk about the sacrifices made that morning.”
The Santa Barbara County Fire Department held remembrance ceremonies at their 16 fire stations and headquarters. They lowered the American flag to half-staff and held a moment of silence at 9 a.m.
This year’s theme, “Remember. Reflect. Renew.” is meant to remind people to carry the spirit of service forward and with purpose, Capt. Scott Safechuck said.
The annual ceremony remembers the lives of 2,977 civilians and first responders who lost their lives on that fateful day in 2001.
In the early morning, four planes were hijacked by members of the Islamic extremist terrorist group al-Qaeda. Two planes crashed into the twin towers at the World Trade Center in New York City and the towers collapsed. Another plane crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. Passengers on the fourth plane fought back and the plane crashed into a field in western Pennsylvania.
Among the crowd at Thursday’s remembrance ceremony, Supervisor Laura Capps said she took the morning to talk to her 14 year-old son about the firefighters rushing into the towers on Sept. 11 to rescue people.
Former County Health Officer Charity Dean attended and took a moment to stand in front of the flagpole with her head bowed and eyes closed. She said she makes it a priority to come to the remembrance ceremony every year.
“It’s excruciatingly painful for me on 9/11 to not be with my first responder tribe,” she said.
Following Hartwig’s remarks, the county’s Honor Guard ceremoniously raised the flag to half-staff, as the crowd held a hand over their heart and firefighters saluted in silence.
“If I could just challenge all of us to never forget, take that as a personal responsibility,” Hartwig said.
Many other fire stations across the county recognized the anniversary with moments of silence Thursday morning.
Santa Barbara County Airport held a moment of silence inside the terminal. A flower wreath arranged with red, white and blue also stands at the front of the airport.
