Aurora Township Fire Department Plans Intimate 9/11 Remembrance

In the upcoming days, the Fox Valley will commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks with a number of public ceremonies. But the has decided on something a little more intimate.

According to Chief Rob Watermann, the department will host a family picnic at its main fire station, at 1312 Seventh Avenue in Aurora. The event won’t be open to the public. Rather, it will be a chance for members of the department to remember what’s important, Watermann said.

“Our take is, if there’s anything we’ve learned from 9/11, it’s that it’s important to celebrate and appreciate what we have today,” he said. “So many of us get busy, and forget about the important things, like family.”

There will be a remembrance of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, but the event will also double as a graduation ceremony for the nine recruits that are prepared to fully join the department. It’s the third class of recruits in the department’s short history—the ATFD was formed in 2006 when the Moecherville and South Park fire departments merged.

“These recruits are anywhere from 19 to their mid-20s,” Watermann said. “Someone 20 years old was only 10 when (9/11) happened.” It is the job of those who lived through it, Watermann suggested, to make sure that the events of that day are not “cast away and forgotten.”

Watermann said the department initially planned on a larger, more public event, but decided a smaller one was more in keeping with the spirit of the day.

“It’s just a low-key event that gives us an opportunity to reflect and remember,” he said.