A Long Island beach where people gathered and watched in horror as the distant World Trade Center towers collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001 is the site of the latest memorial to victims of the terror attacks and among a growing number that honor people who died of illnesses years after participating in the rescue and recovery effort.
- PUB DATE: 9/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Post

A veteran San Francisco firefighter died Sunday after returning from an early morning fire alarm call, according to the San Francisco Fire Department. Battalion Chief Terry Smerdel, a 26-year veteran of the department, was found unresponsive by coworkers in his office, Chief Joanne Hayes-White said in a news release.
- PUB DATE: 9/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KNTV-TV NBC 11 Bay Area

When the winds kicked up as Hurricane Irma made its way up Florida's west coast, rescue workers watched helplessly as the 911 calls piled up on a computer screen. They weren't allowed to respond. Winds were so high that emergency services in many areas were suspended to protect the rescuers. "It just stinks.
- PUB DATE: 9/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CNN

A union rep who tried to help a fellow EMT cited for hanging a noose in an ambulance was rewarded with a racist letter calling her the N-word and threatening her life. Paramedic Keisha Brockington, 41, was stunned and sickened on Aug. 29 after finding the hate-filled missive in her locker at the FDNY EMS Station 22 on Staten Island.
- PUB DATE: 9/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News

At 87, retired Lexington Fire Major Orville Cook leafed through a scrapbook of newspaper clippings Sunday, reminiscing about his work on dramatic fires and rescues and when the city’s Station 6 “was at the center of everything.” The fire station at 501 South Limestone Street had its centennial celebration Sunday.
- PUB DATE: 9/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Lexington Herald-Leader