Clear Lake Fire Department helps public remember Sept. 11

Those traveling through Clear Lake on Wednesday, Sept. 11, witnessed a solemn reminder of the tragic events which occured in New York, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania Sept. 11, 2001.  

The fire department used its new aerial ladder truck to display a large American flag over 8th Street in front of the fire station.  

In addition, the department encouraged visitors to stop and remember at the 9/11 monument outside the station.  

Wednesday night the department welcomed a group of motorcyclists to the monument and held a brief flag raising ceremony with the North Iowa Marine Corps League.  Assistant Chief Mike Keefe said the department will plan to hold a yearly remembrance at the station on Sept. 11.  

“This is a day we can never forget.  It’s something that’s so important to everybody in the United States.  We can never forget what happened 12 years ago today,” said Keefe, who was among the group of Clear Lake firefighters who traveled to New York to ceremoniously bring a piece of the World Trade Center steel to North Iowa.

Many of those attending the ceremony continued on to The Other Place in Clear Lake where owner Brian Hagenow was donating 11 percent of their earnings on Sept. 11 to the Clear Lake Fire and Police Departments.