9/11 Remembered, Emergency Preparedness Taught By Newport Beach Fire Department

NEWPORT BEACH, CA — It was a busy weekend for the Newport Beach Fire Department, with both the 9th annual Disaster Preparedness Expo Saturday, and the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers event at the Newport Dunes on Sunday. On a weekend when the nation was watching Florida and the approach of Hurricane Irma, Newport Beach residents learned how to prepare for unexpected disaster.

Sunday, the Tunnel to Towers event drew hundreds with teams raising money for the foundation, with Southern California Carpet One being the biggest donor raising over $10,000 for the event.

The national event was established by the brother of New York firefighter Stephen Siller who lost his life on 9/11 while saving others.

“Stephen, who was off-duty when the first plane hit, drove to his Brooklyn firehouse and retrieved over 60 pounds of his gear, then sought the quickest route to the World Trade Center,” the foundation said. “Finding the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel blocked, in a supreme act of heroism, Stephen ran about three miles with that gear, to the Twin Towers, where he perished.”

Those steps are commemorated each year in the Tunnel to Towers run/walk with a mission to honor and support the

“The Newport Beach Fire Department was honored and proud to join the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation in the Newport Beach event again this year,” Newport Beach Fire Department said of the event.

At the Community Emergency Response Expo, guests

Photo, courtesy Tunnel to Towers