Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Bellmore firefighters, residents and families gathered to honor four local volunteers whose lives were lost as a result of the tragedy.
The Bellmore Fire Department hosted its annual memorial ceremony Sept. 11 outside its headquarters on Pettit Avenue, where fire trucks lined the roadway and scores of firefighters stood in salute.
Members of the North Bellmore Fire Department joined their Bellmore counterparts for the observance, along with residents, relatives of department members and neighbors.
This year’s gathering carried particular significance as the community marked a quarter-century since the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and United Airlines Flight 93 killed nearly 3,000 people.
The Bellmore department laid wreaths in memory of volunteers Kevin Prior and Adam Rand, both New York City firefighters who died during rescue operations at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
The ceremony also honored volunteer Sean McCarthy, who responded to ground zero and died in 2008 from a 9/11-related cancer, and Robert Ptacek, a member of the department for more than 50 years who died in 2018.
Family representatives carried wreaths across Pettit Avenue to the department’s Sept. 11 memorial, preserving an annual tradition that connects Bellmore’s current firefighters with those whose service and sacrifices continue to shape the department.
Bell tolls and moments of silence punctuated the ceremony as those gathered reflected on the passage of 25 years and the lasting toll of the attacks.
The anniversary served as a reminder that the losses of Sept. 11 did not end that morning. First responders who worked at ground zero continued to develop illnesses linked to their exposure to toxic debris, adding to the number of families and fire departments affected in the years that followed.
For volunteer fire departments such as Bellmore’s, those losses were deeply personal. Prior, Rand, McCarthy and Ptacek were remembered not only for their service, but also as fellow volunteers, friends and members of the community.
After the ceremony at fire headquarters, attendees processed to St. Barnabas Roman Catholic Church on Bedford Avenue for a memorial Mass.
The evening concluded with embraces among relatives, firefighters and neighbors — a reflection of the grief that remains and the unity that has carried the community through the past quarter-century.
For Bellmore, the 25th anniversary was not only a remembrance of one of the darkest days in the nation’s history. It was also a reaffirmation of the community’s commitment to preserve the stories of its fallen firefighters and ensure that their service is never forgotten.
