On the 20th anniversary of 911, the Park City Police Department, Park City Fire Department and Summit County Sheriff’s officers are coming together, and inviting the public to join, for a memorial on Saturday morning.
Park City Police Officer Leslie Welker told KPCW that a silent procession will begin at City Police headquarters, 2060 Park Avenue at 7 a.m. That’s timed, she said, to the hour on Tuesday morning Sept. 11th 2001 when the Twin Towers collapsed in New York.
“We are going to have the procession southbound on Park Avenue to City Park. We’re going to have the Park City Fire Department honor guard, will be carrying the flag. We have a rifle honor guard made up of Summit County deputies and Park City officers. We have bagpipers. We’re gonna have fire trucks, other apparatus. It will be a silent procession, but public is invited to join us along the way and walk with us.”
She said attendees can park along the road.
A ceremony will be held from the porch of the Miners Hospital. Welker said special guests will include a Summit County resident who was a New York Fire Department battalion chief in 2001; and former Governor Gary Herbert, a long-time supporter of First Responders.
Park City Battalion Chief Darren Nelson joined the department in 1995. He recalled that when the events of Sept. 11th unfolded, he was at work, in the old Burns Fire Station facility on Bitner Road.
“We had just reported to work, getting ready for the day, and all of a sudden the news was on. And you, at a moment’s notice, were glued to the TV because of these amazing events that were taking place.”
Nelson said with Saturday’s gathering, they are remembering the public servants who responded to the World Trade Center.
“They were going in when everybody else was going out. Because they were trying to make a difference. And unfortunately, it was one of the largest losses of life of emergency workers in history. And it was devastating.”
KPCW will carry live coverage from National Public Radio of 20th anniversary events in New York City, Pennsylvania and Arlington, Virginia, starting at 6 o’clock Saturday morning.
