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iretrucks in mourning bunting, taps played from The Bean porch, and a flag at half-staff.

On Saturday, September 11, the South Pamlico Volunteer Fire Department paid tribute to those who lost their lives in the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The 1950s La France fire engine, draped with mourning bunting.

Firetrucks dressed with mourning bunting parked on either side of the town dock on Hodges Street around 8:30a. Oriental Fire Department’s 1950s La France Fire Engine, with a fire bell instead of a siren, was closest to the dock.

Assistant Fire Chief Eric Kindle spoke to the crowd gathered in the street, explaining the significance of the day and a Fire Department tradition: the Striking of the Four Fives.

Before sirens, fire departments used bells and telegraph boxes to transmit everything from the beginning of a shift to the closing of a fire call. If a firefighter died in the line of duty, a series of five strikes, four times in a row, signaled their passing. This was done from a fire engine’s bell, or across the telegraph box lines that preceded telephones.

The La France fire engine bell.

Safety Officer Fred Edel was chosen to ring the bell on SPVFD’s 1950s La France Fire Engine. Edel is a former Fire Chief who served on Long Island. Edel was working, and lost friends, during the 9/11 attacks.

Safety Office and former Fire Chief Fred Edel, performs the Striking of the Four Fives.

The National Moment of Silence was observed at 8:46a. Taps was played from The Bean porch at 8:47a.

Chris Mele plays Taps from The Bean Porch.

Afterward, Oriental’s firefighters raised a flag to half-staff at the town dock. A gift to the department, it was a ceremonial flag flown over the Flight 93 crash site.

Firefighters salute the flag as it is raised.

The ceremonial flag from the crash site of Flight 93 flies at half-staff from the town dock flag pole.

Assistant Fire Chief Kindle closed out the ceremony with the following:

Box 5555 has been transmitted [the bells have been rung] by Station 19 Pamlico County in honor of the 343 FDNY Brothers that answered their last alarm operating at Manhattan box 8087 World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001.

Well done, lads.

Left to right: Assistant Fire Chief Eric Kindle, new volunteers Todd Nalley and Brandon Phibbons, and Fire Chief Mike Guzzo.

Oriental’s fire department is comprised of volunteers from the area. While some have backgrounds with other fire departments, many do not. If you’d like to volunteer with or find out more about the South Pamlico Volunteer Fire Department, you can visit Fire Station 19 at 182 Straight Road in Oriental, or call 252-249-1996.

Posted Wednesday September 15, 2021 by Allison DeWeese