LAFD holds annual 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The Los Angeles Fire Department held an annual remembrance ceremony on Monday for the nearly 3,000 people killed in the 9/11 terror attack.

The hour-long ceremony was held at 10 a.m. at the Frank Hotchkin Memorial Training Center.

LAFD Chief Ralph Terrazas joined California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and other city officials to speak about the first responders and civilians killed, and how their sacrifice should lead to action from Angelinos everywhere.

"Let's honor the fallen not just by remembering but by being active," Beck said. "We remember, but we also come together to commit and to recognize."

Padilla said he remembered Sept. 11, 2001 very clearly. He said he was grateful Angelinos were spared being physically attacked, but they were not spared of fear and terror.

"Sixteen years allows us to go back and reflect," he said. "We stood together not just as a city, but as a community, a diverse community."

He went on to say that the country learned it was attacked for its values, and one of the best ways to remember the fallen is by sticking to those values that hold the nation together as one.

Terrazas spoke to members of his department, sharing the heroic stories of some of the first responders who lost their lives trying to save thousands from the attack at the Twin Towers in New York. He said it's their duty to help keep their memories alive.

This year, NYFD Capt. Orio Palmer was honored. After a plane hit the South Tower, Palmer took the elevator up to the 41st floor and then ran up 37 flights of stairs to the impact zone on the 78th floor.

"Knowing that his chances of survival were slim, the man still ran up to the 78th floor to try to save lives, lives of people he did not know," Terrazas shared.

Of the thousands of people who died on 9/11, more than 400 were first responders and emergency workers.

In closing, Beck and Terrazas together rang a bell as a tribute to the heroes who died.