Fire Department prepares for Annual 9/11 Ceremony of Remembrance

All Historic City News subscribers who wish to attend this year’s observance honoring those who died in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, are invited to attend, observing CDC guidelines.

On Friday, September 11, 2020, the City of St. Augustine Fire Department will continue the annual tradition of holding its Ceremony of Remembrance at the main station, 101 Malaga Street, beginning at 8:30 a.m.

“The first Ceremony of Remembrance was held just two days after 9/11 and has continued each year on the anniversary of the attack,” according to a Fire Department spokesman.  “The 15-minute program will include a presentation of the colors, invocation by Father Tom Willis, Pastor and Rector of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine, a musical presentation, and remarks by St. Augustine Fire Chief Carlos Aviles.”

The ceremony will conclude with a minute of silence at 8:45 a.m., timed to coincide with the time the first plane hit the first tower of the World Trade Center in 2001. 

The Fire Department conducts the “Striking the Four 5’s” by ringing its historic 1900 Fire Bell in four intervals of five rings each.  This is a time-honored tradition signifying the last alarm of a firefighter, and will be performed in honor of the firefighters, law enforcement officers, military personnel and civilians who died on 9/11.

The public is expected to follow CDC Guidelines of wearing masks and social distancing.  Masks will be available to anyone who needs one.  The ceremony will also be broadcast live online on the Fire Department’s Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/CityStAugFire.