By Rebecca Forand South Jersey Times
A 700-pound piece of mangled steel, laid in the bed of a pickup truck, came through the doors at the township’s Bridgeport Fire Department Wednesday afternoon to a throng of firemen awaiting its arrival.
The rusted metal piece, twisted in parts with studs covering one side, is a piece of the World Trade Center towers that was destroyed on September 11, 2011.
Logan Township’s fire department plans to use the artifact as the centerpiece of a new memorial to be built in recognition of those who died on 9/11 and all firefighters who have died in the line of duty.
“This is something the department has wanted to do for a while,” Logan Township firefighter Michael Jacovelli said. “We want to make sure the memory is always honored.”
A memorial is planned at the township’s Beckett Road Station, where many members of the community will drive by it on a daily basis.
“This is fantastic, to have a piece of history here in Logan Township,” Deputy Mayor Doris Hall said. “It’s simply beautiful.”
Three firefighters from the township’s all-volunteer force drove to New York to pick up the piece of steel from the New York Port Authority on Wednesday afternoon and brought it back to the firehouse to coincide with another special event occurring there — the delivery of their first new ladder truck in more than 20 years.
The quint apparatus is a 78-foot multi-purpose truck that features a pump, a water tank, fire hose, aerial device and ground ladders. It is intended to help the department in the growing town respond effectively to calls in residential neighborhoods as well as the Pureland Industrial Park, which makes up a large portion of Logan Township.
“For the smaller areas in town, this can navigate the streets. It better suits our town,” Municipal Fire Chief Scott Oatman said.
The truck, which cost $696,000, will allow Logan Township to “immediately enhance the firefighting and rescue capabilities of the department and help maintain the community’s fire safety rating,” according to Oatman.
