9/11 25 Years Later: Local firefighters who went to Ground Zero remember the aftermath of the attack

BY NORAH SHEPPARD-HUTCHINS
Daily Post Staff Writer

After 25 years, a 9/11 memorial is in the works to commemorate the Menlo Park Fire Protection District members who helped with recovery efforts at Ground Zero and to remember the lives lost, said retired fire chief Harold Schapelhouman.

The Menlo Park firefighters went to Ground Zero after the 9/11 attack in their role as members of the Urban Search and Rescue Team, or California Task Force 3, which responds to major catastrophes.

The memorial will be combined with the Oklahoma City Bombing memorial located at the fire district’s training center near the Dumbarton Bridge. Task Force 3 also assisted in the aftermath of that tragedy in 1995.

The task force arrived at Ground Zero six days after 9/11, and their deployment lasted between two and three weeks, Schapelhouman said.

Rare piece of granite

After weeks of searching through the piles of rubble, firefighters recovered a granite floor panel that maybe one of only a few completely intact panels left to this day. The panel may also be one of the last to have experienced the “final footsteps” of people attempting to flee from the disaster, according to a statement from Task Force 3.

The panel will be displayed in the memorial, Schapelhouman said.

“Everyone who has helped me move it (the panel), or even touches it, once I tell them what it is, has had a profound reaction … from amazement and shock to a level of reverence that’s hard to describe,” Schapelhouman said.

Most of the panels that weren’t destroyed by the attacks were torn out and sent to a dump site, however Schapelhouman said he decided to store the panel in his garage for safekeeping for the last 24 years.

“Over the years, we have accumulated a collection of disaster-specific items. Sadly, some disappeared over time … so I made sure that never happened with this panel,” Schapelhouman said.

For years, the fire district has put out 343 American flags in front of its fire stations in tribute to the firefighters who lost their lives on 9/11.