Westfield Fire Department still plans to host 9/11 memorial service

Sept. 8, 2020 | Dennis Hackett
dennis@thereminder.com

WESTFIELD – Despite the current COVID restrictions, the Westfield Fire Department will still host its annual Sept. 11 remembrance ceremony with some new modifications.

Westfield Fire Chief Patrick Egloff explained that the ceremony itself will remain the same as it has in years past and starts at 9:45 a.m.

“What we do is we have a ceremony here at the Fire Department in which flags are lowered and raised, a bell is struck a certain amount of time, which indicates the last call of those firefighters. We just remember them with a solemn attitude. It’s usually around 15 minutes,” he said.

This year Egloff said any residents planning to attend the ceremony need to watch from the other side of Broad Street.

“We aren’t really allowed to have anybody in our building so we’re going to have this in front of the fire station like we always do. Anybody that wants to come and be a part of it can watch from the west side of Broad Street, and we’ll have speakers so they will be able to hear the ceremony,” he said.

Residents who are typically included in the ceremony will also have to watch from across the street.

“Generally, we’ll have some of the Westfield families that lost loved ones on that day come, but they will be across the street with politicians,” he said.

Along with the new regulations for residents, he said that the only staff at the ceremony will be the people scheduled to work that day.

Anyone planning to attend the ceremony must wear a mask and adhere to the current social distancing guidelines.

He added that one of his biggest concerns in planning the ceremony was making sure everyone stays safe.

“It’s a little different this year because of COVID-19, we are trying to keep everybody safe. Being a fire-based EMS system, where we see a lot of patients have been in the think of the pandemic, we are trying to keep our people and the public healthy,” he said.

Egloff said it was important to him to be able to still hold the ceremony.

“For me it’s extremely important that we never forget. I remember seeing my brothers and sisters pass away when the buildings came down. For me and the vast majority of Westfield men and women who are firefighters and paramedics, we take this very seriously. It’s something we have to do to keep their memory alive and never forget the 343 firefighters who gave the ultimate sacrifice that day,” he said.

Following the ceremony at the fire department, Mayor Don Humason will be laying a wreath on the city’s Sept. 11 memorial across from the Westwood Building at 11 a.m.

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