Firefighters Salute All Who Sacrificed

More than 100 firefighters from throughout Orange County and 50 fire academy students placed red roses at the Fire Service Monument in Santa Ana on Sunday to honor the sacrifices of all firefighters and mark the fourth Sept. 11 anniversary.

Nine more roses were set down and the memorial’s bell rung for each of the firefighters who died last year in Orange County. None died on duty.

The World Trade Center terrorist attack, which killed nearly 3,000 people, including 343 firefighters, is “indelibly etched on our firefighters and our country, whether we like it or not. You’ll never forget it. It’s something like Pearl Harbor,” said Costa Mesa Chief Jim Ellis, one of several speakers.

The Santa Ana event was just one of many in Southern California on Sunday honoring Sept. 11 victims. Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona spoke at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace in Yorba Linda. Coto de Caza’s 5K walkathon and ceremony were dedicated to those who died Sept. 11 and raised money for those displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

At the midmorning event in downtown Santa Ana, 20 fire engines were parked near the monument, at Broadway and Civic Center Drive. U.S. flags fluttered from extended truck ladders.

Firefighters, in their dress uniforms, simultaneously saluted the fallen.

Fred McDowell, a Costa Mesa Fire Department engineer, played the national anthem on a trumpet as the color guard brought out the U.S. and California flags.

The firefighters, students and about 50 others attending the tribute fell silent as the Orange County Fire Authority’s bagpipe and drum corps marched toward the memorial in kilts, the music echoing through the city’s center.

Ceremonies are held annually at the Fire Service Monument. Since the Sept. 11 attacks, those victims have been regularly included in the tributes.

After the ceremony, some firefighters reflected about the danger they encounter and how their work had changed since the attacks.

Sept. 11 “forever changed us. It has changed our city,” said Santa Ana firefighter Al Dasher. It “changed the way we do our jobs” -- such as the greater number of “suspicious packages” crews respond to.

There are also other reminders.

“You can’t watch an old movie about New York and [help but] see the towers and think about the loss of lives there and what we could face,” he said.