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SALT LAKE CITY -- A sacred piece of history made a stop in Salt Lake City as a piece of the World Trade Center made an appearance at the Salt Lake City Fire Department.
The piece was there for only about an hour, but in that time it made a big impact on those firefighters and their loved ones who were able touch it.
It's hard for 2-year-old Arabella to understand the significance of the concrete and steel that she reached out and touched Tuesday morning. But to her firefighter father, Tony Allred, just one look at it brings back a flood of memories.
"It's a piece of history, especially for guys in the profession - for firefighters in general, and with the anniversary coming up," Allred said.
The metal piece on display was once a floor beam in one of the Twin Towers. It's traveled nearly 25oo miles from Ground Zero to Salt Lake City, on its way to Grants Pass, Oregon where it will become a memorial.
"The contacts we had there were real surprised it had that much concrete on it," said Michael Fazio, firefighter in Grants Pass, "because both the firefighters we were working with making this happen, they were on the pile and they never saw concrete this large in their working."
As the 10th anniversary of September 11 approaches, it is a solemn time for firefighters across the nation. 343 firefighters died as a result of the attacks on the World Trade Center. While traveling across the country with the beam, Fazio has heard some of their stories.
"We're in a small diner in Indiana and we had somebody come to us with tears in his eyes and a tattoo on his calf that (said) never forget,'" Fazio said. "And he lost his two best friends on 9/11. One was a Port Authority police officer, the other was FDNY. And who would have thought, a small diner in Indiana?"
"The incident has affected the entire country," said SLCFD engineer Nick Lopez. "And for those of us who have not been able to get back there, it's bringing a piece of a tragic event here, and the reverence and respect that goes along with it."
Without hesitation, the Salt Lake City Fire Department offered to host this piece of history as it traveled through Utah. It was a chance to pay respect to those killed, and also an opportunity to remember what was lost.
"You couldn't let something like this pass through town without at least coming to put your hands on it," Allred said.
"It's way more than a piece of metal. It symbolizes the loss, it's what remains of a great building, and a piece of the nation that we lost," Lopez said.
The piece of the World Trade Center will make one more stop in Reno, NV before making the final leg of the trip home to Grants Pass. Once there, the community will help decide how the memorial should be constructed.
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