Firefighters from Snohomish County Fire District 1 are inviting the public to a ceremony Dec. 6 to mark the arrival of a steel beam recovered from the ruins of the World Trade Center that will become the centerpiece of a memorial to be built at the Fallen Firefighter Memorial Park at Fire Station 17 in downtown Edmonds.

The ceremony presented by the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1828 will begin at noon at Fire Station 17, 275 6th Ave. N., Edmonds.

A motorcade of officers from the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, Lynnwood Police Department and Edmonds Police Department will escort a truck transporting the beam to the fire station from Fire District 1 Headquarters, 12425 Meridian Ave. S, Everett. The motorcade will depart at 11:30 a.m. and will travel on southbound I-5 to 220th Street Southwest, then head west to Edmonds.

The ceremony at Fire Station 17 will feature a presentation of the colors and flag-raising by the Fire District 1 Honor Guard and music by the Snohomish County Firefighters Pipes and Drums. The 2,018-pound, 8-foot-long steel beam will be placed onto a display cart that firefighters will roll into the station where it will remain on public display until the memorial is built at the adjacent park. A public reception will be held at the station following the ceremony.

The construction of the memorial will be a cooperative effort involving Fire District 1, the City of Edmonds, IAFF Local 1828, the Fire 1 Foundation and the community.

Fire District 1, through an effort launched two years ago by former employee Catherine Russell, obtained the World Trade Center steel beam to be incorporated in a memorial honoring all those who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001. Members of IAFF Local 1828 took on the project and arranged with the City of Edmonds for the memorial to be constructed and maintained at the Fallen Firefighter Memorial Park.

Firefighter Dave Erickson traveled to New York last week to take ownership of the steel beam on behalf of Fire District 1, and with help from New York firefighters transported the beam to a FedEx facility which provided free shipping.

The next step will be to design and build the memorial in the park where firefighters already maintain a memorial to honor fallen colleagues. The memorial honoring victims of the Sept.11 attack will be paid for entirely with donations and no public funds will be used for construction. Donations can be made to the Fire 1 Foundation, PO Box 12915, Everett WA 98206.

The community has already shown support for the effort with Dick’s Towing donating its services to help with unloading the steel beam and Costco providing food for the Dec. 6 reception.