Las Vegas events to honor those killed in 9/11 terrorist attacks

On the 23rd anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the city of Las Vegas will host a variety of events to pay homage to the lives lost and all who sacrificed.

The city will hold a ceremony at 6:45 a.m at Fire Station 5 at 1020 Hinson St. The ceremony may also be viewed live on Facebook.

It will include a longtime tradition called the “Tolling of the Bells,” according to a Monday news release. Prior to radio communication in the fire service, people used fire alarm boxes on street corners with assigned “box numbers.”

When someone pulled a fire alarm, the signal would go to the fire stations by wire and ring the bell in the stations. Fire dispatch also had designated ringing of the bells, with three sets of five indicating that a firefighter had died in the line of duty.

On the day of the attack, 343 members of the New York Fire Department were killed. In the years since, more than 360 have died, according to the Fire Department.

Frank Pizarro, a Las Vegas resident and retired New York City firefighter, will sing the national anthem. Pizarro was one of the many firefighters who were off-duty on Sept. 11, 2001. and went to the World Trade Center anyway to help. He stayed on the scene for multiple days to work, the release said. Fire Station Five has a piece of steel from the World Trade Center on display.

At 9 a.m. at Summerlin’s Bruce Trent Park, police, Councilwoman Victoria Seaman, Councilwoman Francis Allen-Palenske and the Las Vegas Ten-13 Club will honor people who died in responding to 9/11. The Ten-13 Club was named after the radio call the New York Police Department uses when an officer needs help.

The Las Vegas Fire Department is hosting a climb of the Strat in downtown at 8 a.m. for first responders and military personnel. They will climb 1,455 steps to the top of the 1,149-foot tower to honor those who lost their lives.

Eligible people can register online, where they can specify whether they will go with the run/jog group, the speed walk group or the slow pace. The description warns that it’s a challenge no matter what, and there are no elevators until floor 101.

“Once you start, you must finish,” the registration page reads.

To end the day, a Patriots Day March will be held at 7 p.m., starting from Fremont Street and the First Street Stage. The event is free and open to the public.

Nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks on New York City’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon near Washington D.C. and in the Flight 93 crash outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Contact Katie Futterman at kfutterman@reviewjournal.com.