In Ludlow, steel from the World Trade Center will be surrounded by a granite pentagon; the site will be landscaped with grass to represent the Shanksville, Pa., field where United Flight 93 went down. Watch video
Ludlow Fire Department captains James Machado (left) and John Moll are seen with a piece of steel from the World Trade Center in New York, which was destroyed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The steel is being used for a 9/11 memorial on the grounds of fire headquarters.LUDLOW – With donations from the Department of Public Works and contractors in town, the Fire Department is preparing the site for the 2,200-pound remnant of twisted steel from the Sept. 11 World Trade Center collapse.
“We’re going to surround the steel with a granite pentagon to represent the attack on the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.,” Fire Capt. John Moll said.
He said the structure will be landscaped with tall grasses that will represent the field in Shanksville, Pa., where United Airlines Flight 93 went down.
So far town DPW workers have removed trees at the intersection of Chapin and Center Streets in preparation for the erection of the monument.
The trees had grown so much that they were impeding visibility, Moll said. The trees have been removed with the permission of the town, he said.
“This is a good site,” Moll said. “Many people drive by this site every day.”
The monument will be ready for a dedication which is being planned for this Sept. 11, the 10-year anniversary of the terroist attack on the World Trade Center.
In April, Fire Capt. James Machado and Fire Capt. Jeffery Lavoie borrowed a flat-bed truck from the town’s Department of Public Works and drove to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to pick up the steel that had been reserved for the Fire Department for use in a memorial to the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The 10-foot long piece of steel is from the North Tower. The North Tower collapsed on top of the South Tower. Steel from the South Tower is more fused together, Machado said.
A view of the 18-foot beams on the flatbed trailer in front of the Enfield Fire DepartmentFirefighters in Enfield, Conn., also are erecting a 9/11 monument, constructed of two, 16-foot pieces of steel from the Twin Towers.
Each piece weighs 2,400 pounds and will be erected in front of Fire Department headquarters on Weymouth Road.
The monument will be dedicated on Sept. 11, following a parade.
“The two pieces of steel will be erected to signify the Twin Towers,” Enfield Fire Lt. Brian Ellis said.
One of the men killed in the attack on the World Trade Center was Nicholas Humber, 60, a graduate of Ludlow High School who was living in Newton. The director of commercial sales for a California-based corporation, Humber was traveling on business and was aboard American Airlines Flight 11, the first of two jetliners that were crashed into the twin towers.
Moll said that 343 firefighters from New York City lost their lives in the attack on the World Trade Center, and a total of 3,000 people lost their lives across the country.
“Firefighters are a close-knit community, but we want to remember all the people killed in the attack,” Moll said.
He said that erecting the monument is “the right thing to do.”
“We don’t want to ever forget,” he said.