9/11 ceremony honours fallen firefighters

By Lethbridge Herald on September 11, 2024.

Members of the Lethbridge Firefighters Pipes and Drums, along with the Honour Guard, lead the procession during the Fallen Firefighter Memorial Parade on Wednesday morning from Fire Station No. 1 to Southminister Church. Herald photo by Al Beeber

Al Beeber – LETHBRIDGE HERALD – abeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

September 11 is a day that will forever be remembered with sadness and the feeling of loss after the al-Qaeda terrorist attacks on the U.S. in 2001.

Thousands of innocent people lost their lives when four airliners were hijacked, two of them which were flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City.

The attacks were carried out by 19 terrorists, those in the third plane which was flown into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. while the fourth crashed into a rural area of Pennsylvania after passengers bravely tried to prevent another mass casualty event.

The attacks, which stunned the world, killed 2,977 innocent people and left thousands of children with one parent.

Most people who died were civilians including more than 2,600 at the World Trade Centre and immediate area. All 265 people on the airliners were killed as well as 125 people at the Pentagon.

Residents of more than 90 countries were among the dead.

And of those killed many were first responders and police who were honoured on Wednesday here during the Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services Fallen Firefighter memorial parade and ceremony.

The parade left Fire Station No. 1 on 4 Ave. S. and culminated several blocks east at Southminster United Church at 11 a.m. where fallen first responders from across North America – including LFES members who have died in the line of duty – were honoured.

For Chief fire marshall and Honour Guard commander Troy Hicks, the 9/11 tribute was personal. Hicks was serving in the Canadian Armed Forces when the attacks occurred and shortly thereafter was deployed to Afghanistan on the first rotation of Canadian troops as part of a U.S.-led coalition to overthrow the Taliban and seek the capture of 9/11 attack mastermind Osama bin Laden.

“This day has changed my life,” said Hicks outside the first station before the parade.

Many current members of LFES joined the department after 9/11, he said.

Of the casualties on that day of infamy, 343 were firefighters while more than 70 were police officers.

As survivors fled the scene of the attacks, first responders headed toward the danger, Hicks said, risking their lives – and losing them – in a valiant effort to save the lives of others.

The toll on first responders was not just immediate, however; diseases such as cancer have continued to claim lives due to the toxic environment in which first responders had to work. One report says that as of September of 2023, as many firefighters, EMTs and civilian employees of the New York fire department have died of 9/11-related illnesses as those killed on that day.

“Today is a very significant day for everyone that remembers that unbelievable day 23 years ago. That day has affected so many people worldwide, especially here in North America,” including firefighters, paramedics and police, Hicks said.

The world changed forever on 9/11, he said, when those first planes hit the north and south towers of the World Trade Centre. Those 110-storey towers collapsed less than two hours after they were struck by the hijacked planes.

“While thousands of people were fleeing that disaster and trying to get away, first responders ran forward to it, in the hopes of rescuing as many survivors as they could,” he said.

“While first responders over the years have always worked in very hazardous conditions, the events of 9/11 changed a lot of the work that all of us do as well as a lot of the safety that all of us do.

“Standard practices have changed, our tactics have changed, our safety equipment has changed due to that event,” said Hicks.

“We’re still seeing the aftermath of that event 23 years later with people getting sick and people still passing away.”

He said the event has changed the way fire and EMS do work and they continue to strive on in the hopes they can continue to make changes to keep them alive and safe while continuing to help the public.

And the event also brought into the limelight the perils EMS, firefighters and police face on a daily basis, he added.

The leading cause of death in North America for firefighters, said Hicks, is cancer followed by cardiac arrest. And the No. 1 cause of traumatic firefighter deaths is traffic collisions.

“So we’re at risk every day when we’re out doing our job regardless of whether it’s an accident at the side of the street, a burning building, a medical call,” Hicks said.

Mental health pain is also important as well as physical and Hicks said that issue has been brought to the forefront since 9/11.

“Mental health is extremely important and I can say here at Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services, the emphasis that’s been put on our mental health is top-notch. We are all treated very well. We all have many different assets out there that we can utilize to do this,” he added.

“This is a brotherhood, and a sisterhood. We all have each other’s backs,” he said.

Kevin McKeown, deputy fire chief of communications and strategy for LFES, said “it’s a very important ceremony that we hold each year. It is a solemn occasion but it is also one that we remember and honour all the fallen firefighters throughout North America and have given their in the line of duty over the last year.” 

During the ceremony, the names of all the firefighters who died in the past year were read out, including LFES members who McKeown said “have given the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.”