West Bloomfield Fire Department awaits 9/11 steel

The West Bloomfield Fire Department has announced that it will receive a piece of steel from the fallen World Trade Center to be added to the township’s firefighters’ memorial, which is located at Fire Station No. 5 on West Maple Road.

Fire Chief Jay Wiseman said last week that he gained approval from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to acquire the steel after he submitted an application in August 2009.

There will be no cost for the steel, but the fire department will provide the funds to transport the piece to West Bloomfield. There is no word yet on when the steel beam will arrive or how big it will be.

Wiseman also said that a committee is currently being developed to make sure that that the steel is displayed property, what its place will be in the memorial and how it will be kept secure.

The memorial will be rededicated sometime in the future after completion of the addition.

The firefighters’ memorial originated as a Boy Scout project by township resident Michael Okorn and honors fallen township firefighters.

The remnants of the World Trade Center, which was brought down in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, are currently being stored in a hangar at JFK International Airport in New York, but some pieces are being given to fire and police departments across the U.S.