Remembering 9/11
Porterville’s public safety departments host remembrance ceremony
Porterville fire and police personnel participated in a 9/11 memorial at Fire House #2 on Newcomb Street and Morton Avenue on Wednesday.
Fire Chief Dave Lapere said the fire department always has a remembrance every year, but will have a larger commemorative ceremonies on the 20 and 25 year anniversaries.
“We are remembering everyone who was involved,” Lapere said. “The New York and New Jersey and other police departments, fire departments, the Port Authority, the paramedics, ambulance workers, civilians, and all of the first responders who lost their lives. The ceremony will be a small traditional remembrance to honor those who gave their lives.”
The ceremony began with all of the men and women firefighters standing in formation and saluting the flag. A prayer was spoken, and a moment of silence was given. The ceremony continued with the firefighters in all their gear, reminiscent to what the fire personnel in New York during 9/11 would have been wearing.
Several police officers walked up the stairway of the fire tower and picked a name out of a container. They con
tinued walking up the flights of stairs to the top of the tower, and then down to the bottom where they spoke the name and department of each first responder and rang the fire bell in honor of each person.
“We are carrying our full equipment, but it’s a small sacrifice for us to pay for remembrance to those who lost their lives rescuing people from the Twin Towers,” said Porterville Battalion Chief Erin Brunelle. “There were so many firefighters, police, rescue workers, and ambulance service and paramedics who returned to rescue people from the towers and didn’t make it back.”
Carl Jordan, motorcycle traffic sergeant for the Porterville Police Department, said, “We were honored to be a part of the ceremony. Remembering what happened on 9/11; I was working when it happened. I was writing a report when I heard about the plane crashes. I was in Porterville and fairly new to the police department. It was disbelief. No one imagined that this could happen here in the U.S. From that point on the support for the military and public safety was incredible. The patriotism was very strong and evident. But Porterville has always been very patriotic. People would walk up to us and thank us everywhere we went. The patriotism and was brought out even more so. It is important that we remember the sacrifice of those people who died and never forget.”
After almost two hours of walking up and down the fire tower at Fire House #2, the 343 names had been read and the firefighters were honored. Afterwards, Brunelle had organized a barbeque for the firefighters, and invited whoever had the time to take part.
Joanne Leslie, just joined the Porterville Fire Department on June 1, 2019, and said, “This is the second year for the ceremony, but my first time. 9/11 was a shock to the nation, of course, but to me personally it was a reminder of the heroes we have. And now I get to be one of them serving our community. It is an honor being able to work with these guys.”