Nevadans remembering Sept. 11

Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2002 | 8:47 a.m.

City and county firefighters will commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks with several events tonight and Wednesday.

The events begin at 7 p.m. today with the dedication of Firefighters Memorial Park at West Oakey Boulevard and Redwood Street. The focus will be the dedication of a monument, "Symbol of a Fallen Firefighter," created by artist and former firefighter John Banks. It will end with a candlelight ceremony.

With the ring of a bell, names of fallen firefighters will be read and the family recognized. The ceremony also will honor firefighters who died on Sept. 11.

For more information, call 229-6298.

At 6 a.m. Wednesday firefighters, led by the Clark County Fire Department Honor Guard, will march from the intersection of Flamingo Road and the Strip to Station 18 at 575 E. Flamingo Road, where a ceremony will be held to remember firefighters who died in the Sept. 11 attacks.

At 6:45 a.m. ceremonies will begin at all county and Las Vegas fire stations, coinciding with remembrances at fire stations across the country, an effort coordinated by the International Association of Fire Chiefs.

A five-minute moment of silence will be observed beginning at 7 a.m., commemorating the moment when the first tower of the World Trade Center collapsed. Flags will then be lowered to half-staff.

The tribute will be repeated at 7:28 a.m., the time when the second tower collapsed.

Gov. Kenny Guinn and civic leaders are expected.

Guinn also will host ceremonies at 9 a.m. Wednesday in front of the Sawyer State Office Building and on the steps of the state capitol at 1 p.m. They will feature firefighters raising the flag, a 21-gun salute by police honor guards, high school bands and a military flyover.

The governor has urged churches, synagogues, mosques and all faith centers to join in three minutes of bell-ringing. The chimes will be sounded at the Laxalt Building in Carson City and at the universities in Las Vegas and Reno.

The bells will begin ringing for three minutes at 5:45 a.m., 6:03 a.m., 6:43 a.m. and 7:10 a.m. The times correspond with the times the hijacked jets crashed last year.

Las Vegas also will hold a flag-raising ceremony at 9 a.m. on the steps of City Hall, featuring an honor guard made of Metro Police and the Las Vegas Detention and Enforcement Department. Nellis Air Force Base aircraft are scheduled to fly over City Hall at 9:15 a.m. The ceremony will be carried live on KCLV Cox cable Channel 2.

Afterward an open microphone forum will allow residents to express their thoughts, read poetry and reflect on the events of Sept. 11 and the responses to them.

An Emergency Services Candlelight Memorial will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Police Memorial Park, 3250 Metro Academy Way, off Cheyenne Avenue and Grand Canyon Drive. For more information, call Metro Police's Office of Public Information, 229-3394.

In addition, other groups are planning events throughout the Las Vegas Valley. They include: