The Bernalillo County Fire Department will hold the 2nd annual Fallen Heroes 9/11 Memorial this Saturday, Sept. 11. at BernCo @ Alvarado Square, located at 415 Silver Ave SW. Bernalillo County honor guards will stand in silent watch over 343 sets of firefighter bunker gear for a total of 343 minutes in remembrance of the 343 firefighters and 71 law enforcement officers who lost their lives while answering the call for service.
“It’s been 20 years. Yet the devotion to duty and courage demonstrated by the heroes who arrived on scene to pandemonium and went running into the World Trade Center continues to inspire us as if it was yesterday,” says Bernalillo County Fire Chief Greg Perez. “This is our second year doing a silent memorial which focuses on the firefighters and law enforcement officers and provides a way for widespread public participation both in person and online.”
The 9/11 Memorial will take place in front of Bernalillo County’s new administrative headquarters on Silver Avenue and will begin promptly at 6:46 a.m., the local time at which the first plane crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center. It is also when NYC emergency dispatchers sent the police, paramedics and firefighters to the scene. Ceremonial procedures will be conducted throughout the memorial marking the second plane impact into the south tower (7:03 a.m.), the Pentagon impact (7:37 a.m.), the collapse of the south tower (7:59 a.m.), the crash of flight 93 in Pennsylvania after passengers foiled hijackers on the way to Washington D.C. (8:03 a.m.), the collapse of the north tower (8:28 a.m.) and at 343 minutes from the start of the memorial marking the end of the ceremony (12:29 p.m.) BCFD firefighters will also strike the four-fives on a ceremonial bell on the hour starting at 9 a.m. following the laying of wreaths.
Silver Avenue will remain open so viewers may drive by the memorial between Fourth and Fifth streets. Pedestrians may pay respects in person. Chaplains will be present. The memorial will also be streamed live on the Bernalillo County Fire Department Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/BerncoFD).