Kenai Fire Department Deputy Chief Pete Coots stands next to a decommissioned service bell of the fire hall on a drizzly Wednesday morning. The lawn is dressed with 343 American flags, each honoring a firefighter who died in the line of duty on September 11, 2001.
The attack shook the nation and 2,996 people died as a result. The local department has been holding a ceremony on the anniversary every year since. It’s become an annual tradition to place flags on the lawn and hold a bell memorial service.
“It was a pretty somber day to think about the firefighters and their showing up for work, receiving that alarm and having to enter the towers knowing what was above them," Coot said during the ceremony. "They still proceeded in with undaunting courage to make their way up the stairs to start rendering aid to those they found.”
Bell sounding is rooted in firefighting culture, having first been used to mark the start, and end, of the work day. The tradition has come to announce the passing of a firefighter in the line of duty.
Coots was at the start of his firefighting career in 2001, having just moved to Alaska. He says the terrorist attacks put the responsibility service members have into perspective.
“For me, at the time I was a volunteer at the fire department in Homer, but I understood the sacrifices and the dangers of the job that were coming apparent," Coots said. "We don’t have very many skyscrapers in Alaska, but still a routine house fire or traffic incident and those types of things, you’re out putting yourself at risk.”
Fire Captain Abe Porter spoke about how the tragedy changed the landscape of the firefighting profession.
“Firefighters in today’s fire service are confronted with a more dangerous work environment than ever before, being forced to continually change their strategies and tactics to accomplish the task they are called upon to deliver," Porter said. "While our methods may change over time, our goals remain the same, as they were in the past, to save lives and protect property, sometimes at a terrible cost. This is what we do, this is our chosen profession, this is the tradition of the firefighter.”
More than 20 years later, Kenai Fire Department staff agree that all fire personnel are connected to those who died on 9/11 because of their shared dedication to service.
Fire chief Jay Teague says the department is now hiring firefighters who were born after 9/11, and follow the motto to “never forget.”
“The greatest thing we can do to honor the lives lost on 9/11 is to strive to be the people we were on September 12, when we all came together, we all felt like one nation, one people," Teague said during the ceremony. "We get lost in the daily strife, the daily frustrations, and we lose that sometimes, but I think that's probably the best sentiment we can end on, is that we should strive to be the people we were on September 12.”
Decommissioned fire service bells are only used on two occasions: during funerals and times of commemoration. At the ceremony in Kenai, the bell is rung three times in sets of three to honor the firefighters who died.
The Kenai Fire Department hopes to grow the number of attendees at the annual 9/11 bell memorial service in the future.
