GREENFIELD — The town has received one of the last pieces of steel from the World Trade Center being given to communities by the New York City Fire Department for commemorative use, and plans to build a memorial locally to honor those who lost their lives on Sept. 11.
Due to dwindling supplies, Greenfield Deputy Fire Chief Edward Jarvis said the FDNY is no longer fulfilling requests for steel and the remaining pieces are being reserved for military honors.
The 80-pound piece of steel was picked up Tuesday during a small ceremony at the FDNY training academy, attended by Jarvis and Lt. Keith Gamage of the Greenfield Fire Department and Lt. William Gordon of the Greenfield Police Department. It was transported back to Greenfield covered by an FDNY flag that was given to the Greenfield Fire Department for the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
“We feel honored and privileged that we’re one of the few fire departments to have the privilege of having a piece of the World Trade Center,” Jarvis said. “They didn’t get handed out to everyone that requested them.”
He said the Greenfield Fire Department has close ties to FDNY and was made aware of the opportunity to request a piece of steel by John Davis, director of McCarthy Funeral Homes, whom he called a long-time friend of the fire department and a former call force firefighter.
He added that Gamage knew two members of FDNY who died on 9/11.
The department made its initial request in November and received notification about a month later that its request had been approved.
Jarvis said the piece of steel the town received is from an I-beam, but was unsure whether it came from the North Tower or the South Tower, because everything became jumbled in the rubble.
The steel is currently being housed in the fire station and a temporary memorial will be built for the public to visit. The ultimate goal, Jarvis said, is to display the relic alongside the flags from the FDNY, NYPD and Port Authority in the atrium of the town’s proposed public safety complex that will replace the current Main Street fire station.
“It’s a piece of history,” he said. “Firefighters are a very proud organization and we were interested in setting up a memorial to memorialize the men and women of 9/11.”
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