By Heather Michon
Correspondent
About 75 community members gathered for the annual 9/11 remembrance at the Lake Monticello firehouse on Wednesday evening.
Chief Richie Constantino said the perfect blue skies reminded him of the weather on that day in 2001, where 2,977 people lost their lives in a terrorist attack on New York and Washington.
He said the “passion for remembrance has faded” as the years have passed.
But, he reminded the audience, 9/11 continues to deserve commemoration – and continues to cost lives.
The collapse of the World Trade Center’s twin towers created an environmental catastrophe, exposing tens of thousands to toxic dust and fumes. This has left many of those who worked on the recovery and cleanup efforts suffering from cancers, respiratory diseases, and other serious illnesses.
The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) WTC Health Program monitors almost 130,000 people who lived or worked in the disaster area in 2001. As of December 2023, it has recorded 6,781 deaths attributable to exposure to the site.
Earlier this month, New York City officials reported that 360 firefighters and first responders have died of 9/11-related illnesses – more than the 343 killed on the day of the disaster.
The emotional impact of that day also remains sharp.
A community member who was working in law enforcement in New York on the day of the disaster told the audience: “None of those firemen I know came home that night … .They never came home. And I can tell you to this very day when I hear a fire engine or see an airplane, my brain goes back to that day.”
This was the 20th year LMFD has gathered to remember the day. In 2003, the department established a small Memorial Garden to commemorate the fallen, and in 2011, it was awarded a four-foot section of girder from the World Trade Center site.
The memorial also honors two Fluvanna firefighters killed in an accident while on duty in 1989 and US Navy Seaman Dakota Rigsby, a former LMFD volunteer killed while serving on the U.S.S. Fitzgerald in 2017.
