Belleville Fire Chief Mark MacDonald addresses the crowd at Fire Station #1 at the 15th anniversary remembrance ceremony of the 9/11 terror attacks. Photo: Brock Ormond/Quinte News.
It has been 15 years since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center Twin Towers and the Belleville Fire Department, along with first responders, paid tribute to the lives lost that day in a ceremony Sunday morning.
Along with the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York, there was an attack on the Pentagon in Virginia, and a stand-off between passengers and al-Qaeda terrorists that led to a crash in an empty field in Pennsylvania.
In total, the attacks killed nearly 3,000 people from 93 nations on that Sept. 11 morning in 2001. Also, 343 firefighters, 60 police officers and eight paramedics were among those killed.
A crowd of approximately 50 stopped by Fire Station #1 in Belleville to pay their respects to fire, police and EMS crews.
Belleville Fire Chief Mark MacDonald said that the ceremony was not only to honour the lives lost in the attacks, but also to remember all recent acts of senseless violence.
Mayor Taso Christopher echoed Chief MacDonald’s statements, giving special thanks to the brave firefighters and first responders that risked their lives to save people’s lives.
Padre Blair Ross from the Canadian Forces also spoke and recited a psalm at the ceremony.
To mark the exact moment when the first plane hit the World Trade Center building, a bell was tolled three times at 8:46 a.m.
