The steel is from the North Tower, which fell on top of the South Tower as a result of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Ludlow Fire department captains James Machado (left) and John Moll are with a piece of steel from the World Trade Center in New York. The steel will probably go into a new 9/11 memorial on the grounds of fire headquarters.LUDLOW – Two Ludlow Fire Department captains have returned from Hangar 17 at JFK International Airport in New York City with a 2,200-pound remnant of twisted steel from the World Trade Center collapse.
Fire Captain James Machado said he and Fire Captain Jeffery Lavoie borrowed a flatbed truck from the town’s DPW 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.
“We walked into a sea of metal and a large American flag,” Machado said. “It was sobering.”
The artifacts from the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center were offered to municipalities and other non-profit organizations for use in memorials to the victims of the trade center attacks.
Some of the requests are still being processed.
Firefighters in Enfield, Conn., in February picked up two 18-foot long steel beams which they plan to incorporate into a memorial to commemorate the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
The pieces of steel debris were reserved for towns so long as the towns could arrange to have the pieces picked up, Machado said. One group of firefighters picking up steel had driven 27 hours from Mesquite, Texas, he said. Another group had driven from Indiana.
“Hangar 17 is a solemn, quiet place,” Machado said. “It’s hard to believe it’s been almost 10 years.”
The 2,200-pound piece of steel is 10 feet long. Machado said he and Lavoie had to use a bucket loader, fork lifts and a chain to unload it into the Fire Department garage.
The steel is from the North Tower, Machado said. The North Tower collapsed on top of the South Tower. Steel from the South Tower is more fused together, he said.
“You can imagine the heat which could bend 1,000-pound pieces of steel,” he said.
“There were 3,000 lives lost during the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, including 343 firefighters,” Machado 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 which were crashed into the twin towers.
Ludlow Fire Chief Mark Babineau, who received approval from the Port Authority for a piece of steel for his community, said his goal is to build a memorial incorporating the piece of steel outside the town’s public safety complex by Sept. 11, 2011, the 10-year anniversary of the World Trade Center attack.
There is a lot of interest from the police and fire departments and from private citizens and the town in designing a memorial, Machado said.
“For me, this is about the brotherhood,” he said. “This memorial will be here forever. People will want to touch the steel.”