September 11th Remembered Across Orange County: Laguna Beach

It has been 17 years since the attacks of 9/11. Across Orange County, residents, firefighters and sheriff's department officers are pausing to remember the lives lost and those lost since the attacks on 9/11 in New York City's World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania.

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In Orange County, fire stations held ceremonies, with a main one at Orange County Fire Authority headquarters in Irvine. Local dignitaries from the Orange County Board of Supervisors, Dana Point, Lake Forest, Rancho Santa Margarita, Tustin and other cities gathered with residents to remember at the precise moment the first plane struck the tower in a moment of silence.

"On this day, we remember the innocent who lost their lives, and others who gave their lives so others would live," OCFA Fire Chief Brian Fennessy told those present.

If you ask "where were you when the world stopped turning," everyone has a story or memory. For some, there is an even more personal connection. Orange County firefighter Scott Townley eagerly awaits the crowds for his annual 9/11 memorial around his home Tuesday, as he has done for each of the 17 anniversaries, but he is also already planning for the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

In 2018, Townley has added the names of victims who have died since Sept. 11, 2001 to his memorial, along with additional flags. As of Monday, a few hundred people had visited the memorial in front of the Fullerton resident's home.

Townley hasn't seen a waning of interest in marking the anniversary of the attacks.

"Last year, it was absolutely packed," he said. "We had over a thousand people on Sept. 11."

This year, "I had to add about 30 or 40 names of military (troops) we lost this year," Townley said. "I'm already planning for the 20th anniversary. We've got some big things planned for the 20th anniversary."

The memorial has grown over the years. This year, for instance, he has about 3,300 pictures of victims mounted on 12 four-by-eight walls. The victims include first-responders who died from injuries sustained from digging out Ground Zero in New York City, he said.

As for those who have died in combat triggered by the 9/11 attacks, that number exceeds 5,700, he said.

Orange County motorcycle enthusiasts will continue their annual tradition of a "9/11 Memorial Ride." It was slated to begin and end at a popular biker hangout, Cook's Corner in Trabuco Canyon.

In Laguna Beach, a ceremony was held at Monument Point in Heisler Park where the city hosted a memorial at 8 a.m.

The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum also held events, which will be attended by Orange County Fire Authority Chief Brian Fennessy and Orange County Undersheriff Don Barnes.

Photos, courtesy OCFA