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Hollywood Firefighters Remember 9/11 And The City's Own Lost First Responders

Hollywood Firefighters
Caitie Switalski
/
WLRN
Family and colleagues of Hollywood's fallen firefighters gathered Tuesday morning at Fire Station 31 to honor them. Their names were added to a memorial outside the station.

At the entrance to Hollywood's Fire Station 31, on Hollywood Blvd., sits a tall statue of a fireman, in full gear, holding a baby. Below are names of local firefighters from the department who have died in the line of duty and after decades of service.

During a ceremony to remember the 9/11 terrorist attacks Tuesday, members of Hollywood's current fire rescue department unveiled 10 new names added to that memorial.

Phil Savery knew all of them well.

"I know every one of these here, I worked with them," said Savery, who retired from the department in 1977 but still comes to visit the fire station with his wife, Muriel.

The couple, now both 91 years old, came to say the pledge of allegiance and stand in a moment of silence for those first responders killed in 9/11, more than 340 of which were firefighters.

They were especially moved to see the names of men Phil fought fires next to in South Florida.

"It's like a family," Muriel said. 

Louis 'Lou' Carman agrees. He retired from the Hollywood Fire Department 10 years ago, and said the anniversary of 9/11 is the perfect day to honor local heroes with the memorial unveiling.

"9/11 is special to all firemen, it just shows the dangers that can happen everyday," Carman said. "Just to sit there and rub your hand across a name means so much, and it tells the history of the department."

Newly listed on the Hollywood memorial are: Division Chief Theodore Ferschky, Lieutenant Michael Fulks, Driver Engineer Wayne Barnes, Driver Engineer Daniel Damiano, Driver Engineer Wilton Driggers, Driver Engineer Jack Downs, Driver Engineer Fred Fisher, Driver Engineer Daryel Richards, Firefighter Sherrick Thomas, and Firefighter Jeff Webb.

Hollywood Firefighters
Credit Caitie Switalski / WLRN
/
WLRN
Ten people's names who worked at Hollywood Fire Rescue and have died were added to the memorial outside of Fire Station 31 Tuesday morning, on the 17th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Caitie Muñoz, formerly Switalski, leads the WLRN Newsroom as Director of Daily News & Original Live Programming. Previously she reported on news and stories concerning quality of life in Broward County and its municipalities for WLRN News.
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