Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, South King Fire is unable to hold its annual in-person 9/11 tribute event this year on Friday, Sept. 11, 2020.

However, their 9/11 memorial is outdoors and open to the public for visitors. The memorial is maintained by donations to the South King Firefighters Foundation at www.firefightersfoundation.org.

“In place of our event we created this tribute to the men and women who lost their lives on September 11th 2001,” SKF&R said.  “It is also a tribute to the men and women, and their families who continue to suffer from the impacts of this tragic day.”

South King Fire and Rescue is proud to have the most complete 9/11 Memorial on the West Coast. Located in front of Fire Station 64 at 3700 S. 320th in Federal Way (map below), the South King Fire & Rescue 9/11 Memorial is one of a very few 9/11 memorials to have items from all three of the Sept. 11 crash sites:

    • New York,  NY: A steel beam from the World Trade Center twin towers 12 feet long,  1216 pounds the beam is mounted so that it points toward New York City. Picked up from New York by two firefighters and transported to Federal Way in 2011.
    • Shanksville, PA: A stone excavated from the field which Flight 93 crashed into after Todd Beamer and other passengers and crew wrestled the plane from terrorists preventing the plane from reaching its presumed destination of Washington DC.
    • Washington, DC: A limestone building block from the Pentagon shipped to us by Alaska Airlines with the aid of the Washington DC Fire Department.

These artifacts are surrounded by a black granite wall with the names of each of the 2,977 people that lost their lives in the attack including 343 firefighters and 60 police officers.

There is also a display at the memorial of a pair of bronzed combat boots dedicated to the military personnel that continue to battle global terrorism. Behind those boots is this quote from John Kennedy’s January 20, 1961 inaugural address:

“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”