Dixon Firefighters Reflect on 9/11, Death of Osama Bin Laden

About a week ago Dixon Fire Chief Aaron McAlister stood in front of the Dixon City Council to pitch an agreement that would bring a piece of steel from the remains of the World Trade Center to Dixon to serve as the centerpiece for a local 9/11 memorial.

The council agreed with McAlister and voted unanimously in favor of entering into the agreement with the port authorities of New York and New Jersey. On Monday night the DFD, along with the rest of the nation, received another piece of news related to 9/11 – the death of Osama Bin Laden.

McAlister said it was pure coincidence that the death of Bin Laden, came a week after he requested the council to approve the agreement, and said “What’s really important for the Fire Department is having that piece of steel in time for the 10-year anniversary.”

But at the same time McAlister said about the death of Bin Laden: “It’s one of those things (where) he’s been out there for a long time. It’s good that it brings a lot of closure. Our country has been working on it for 10 years.”

“I’m glad to know that branch of the government of the military has been working on it and hasn’t lost sight on it,” he said.

“Without a doubt, I am elated that we got him,” Dixon Fire Engineer Jarrod Infante said. “I have the highest respect for our military. I have the highest respect for what we do.”

It’s a brotherhood that no one outside the people who live and work alongside one another as firefighters could possibly know. Dixon firefighters, including Infante, came to know many of the FDNY firefighters, some who would lose their lives during the attacks, during a training conference dubbed East Meets West.

The conference brought instructors from Buffalo, New York and Boston together with those from California fire departments for training.

“Because of Dixon Fire Department’s very aggressive attitude toward training, we had had a very good relationship with the air quality board and hosted live fire training with old or abandoned houses,” Infante said. “The majority of that training was done here in Dixon, so we were working right alongside FDNY members.”

Dixon Fire Capt. John Malone recalls: “They were normal guys, good guys. They were family guys like everybody else.”

The mutual respect and feeling of brotherhood garnered during the training would bring five Dixon firefighters including Infante to New York for a 2002 memorial service in honor of the 343 firefighters who lost their lives.

“It was extremely emotional, it was extremely touching, it was a huge honor to be part of that procession in honor of the sacrifice of the guys back there,” Infante said. “And to just be a part of the show of respect for the families of the people who had lost their lives.”

Infante was at home enjoying a day off when a long-time friend called him and told him to turn on the television on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.

“I was absolutely awestruck to see the World Trade Center burning,” he said.

When Infante heard about the news of Bin Laden’s death, he called the same friend and asked him “Did you hear the news that they got him?”

Although the death of Bin Laden marks a significant milestone in the whole story of 9/11, it doesn’t mean the Dixon firefighters will forget about the attacks on America, and everyone who lost their lives.

Fire Chief McAlister said the piece of steel from Ground Zero would be in Dixon within 60 days.

“It will somehow permanently be affixed to the ground (at the DFD),” McAlister said. “There will be some sort of small plaque. That piece of steel will serve as a reminder and monument and a visual for our firefighters as far as why we do it, why we train every day, what’s behind our mission."