WTC Steel Arrives at Hartsville Fire Company

After more than a year of planning and preparation, the Hartsville Fire Company finally brought home on Saturday afternoon the piece of steel from the World Trade Center that had been set aside for them by the New York/New Jersey Port Authority.

The journey began on Thursday morning at 5 a.m. when firefighters from Hartsville made their way to Hangar 17 at JFK Airport to wait for the piece. They stood in line with other stations, some coming from as far as North Carolina and Wisconsin, while each party backed their trucks to the hangar entrance and waited for a forklift to load their piece.

"We're only allowed to pick up steel here in Thursday mornings between 7:30 and 11:30," said Ed Pfeiffer, chairman of Hartsville's 9/11 Committee. "There's a lot of activity right now, but we'll just wait our turn."

After securing the steel, which measures 12-feet long and weighs about 2,066 pounds, the Hartsville crew transported it to the Eddington Fire Company in Bensalem, where it rested until Saturday's procession. 

First responders from Warminster, Warrington, Ivyland, Warwick, Upper and Lower Southampton and Trevose met up with the Hartsville caravan at the Trevose Fire Company house and at 2 p.m. followed a motorcycle escort up Street Road to the Hartsville firehouse on York.

"I have a lot of intense feelings right now," said Billy Williams. A Warminster resident, Williams was on Pier 54 working with a production team when the towers were attacked in 2001. After the second tower fell, his team volunteered their rigging, diesel generators and crane equipment to help with the rescue efforts. He joined the Hartsville 9/11 Committee in 2009 and helped organize the fundraising efforts.

"There were a lot of people there that day helping out that weren't firefighters," said Williams. "It's good to feel some of that recognition today."

Pfeiffer thanked the crowd for coming and showed them a model of the proposed memorial that he hopes will be ready by this coming September 11, the 10th anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks.