Kelso, WA - Those lost as a result of the September 11th terrorist attacks will be remembered and honored at Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue's memorial located at 701 Vine Street in Kelso on September 11th this Friday. The South Tower of the World Trade Center fell at 9:59 Eastern Standard Time.  The North tower collapsed at 10:28.  This ceremony memorializes the loss at the actual time and begins at 6:45 am.  Each year, since 2001, Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue's Honor Guard has raised the American Flag and then lowered it to half-staff while Fire Chief, now Scott Neves, speaks.  The public is invited to observe the ceremony remotely via our social media.

Chief Neves comments on the annual remembrance and the early start time, “We will continue to honor the sacrifice that was made and continues to be made by emergency services across this country. We specifically want to honor the 412 emergency workers that died on September 11, 2001, and the hundreds that have died since that date due to 9/11 related illnesses.”

A steel artifact from the World Trade Center, released by the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey, is the centerpiece of the memorial.  Only 1,000 steel artifacts have been released for memorials throughout the United States.  Development of the memorial began in the Fall of 2009 by Cowlitz 2 Firefighter Brad Yoder and a number of high school fire cadets.  The memorial is always open to the public to remember or to "never forget".