Bellmore F.D. honors Sept. 11 fallen

On the 12th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Bellmore Fire Department volunteers reminded the community that they would never forget the fallen at their annual memorial service.

Firefighters and community members gathered at monuments across from department headquarters on Pettit Avenue, including a steel beam from the World Trade Center that was placed there last year. Family members of the three New York City firefighters and Bellmore volunteers who died in the attacks and their aftermath –– Adam Rand, Kevin Prior and Sean McCarthy –– were invited to lay flowers under the beam in their honor.

Mary Ann Rand and Gerard Prior memorialized their sons, who died in the World Trade Center on the day of the attacks. McCarthy, who died of cancer in 2008 after developing health problems because he was exposed to contaminated air at ground zero, was represented by his sister, Tara Donlon. Department members also laid wreaths with the name of each firefighter on them.

After the ceremony, firefighters and residents attended a Mass of Remembrance at the nearby St. Barnabas Roman Catholic Church.