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# A piece of the World Trade Center memorialized in SM
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/a-piece-of-the-world-trade-center-memorialized-in-sm/
- Published: 2005-09-10T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T07:46:16.000Z
- Author: Carolyn Sackariason
- Tags: local, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*SMFD chief warns public to be prepared*

PUBLIC SAFETY BLDG. — With the devastating effects still being realized by Hurricane Katrina — the worst disaster in U.S. history — the fourth anniversary of the worst attack on this country’s soil may be forgotten by many Americans this weekend.

But Jim Inge, a Santa Monica Fire Department engineer, hopes a memorial of the Sept. 11 attacks that he helped create will etch into people’s minds what thousands of people sacrificed four years ago Sunday.

“People are already starting to forget,” he said. “They should never forget this.”

A piece of steel from the north tower of the World Trade Center will live on the second floor of the public safety building behind City Hall with three pictures depicting the bravery and sacrifice made by civilians and rescuers.

On the base of the sculpture, two messages are engraved onto its sides. One side reads: “Evil never prevails, freedom despite its vulnerabilities, will always prevail,” — George Pataki, governor of New York. And on other side, the memorial reads: “On Sept. 11th, 2001, the United States of America endured the most vicious, unprovoked attack on innocent civilians on our homeland. Over 3,000 lives from 80 countries perished. Ordinary people emerged as heroes to help others. Brave souls who epitomized the indomitable spirit and courage of a nation forged in freedom.”

Inge spearheaded the design and creation of the memorial, which he hoped would be a permanent fixture at the SMFD’s newest fire station. But then it was decided that the memorial would be better utilized at the SMFD’s administration building and then could be transported to different locations.

This weekend, the memorial is placed in the lobby of the public safety building.

“The memorial has graphics, rightfully so, of police, fire, emergency medical and community members who were impacted so it seemed fitting that it be in a public place,” said SMFD Chief Jim Hone.

While there are still football fields worth of steel and debris still left from the World Trade Center buildings, none of it is being released anymore. So Inge feels particularly fortunate to have been part of a network of rescue workers who were able to give a piece of Ground Zero to Santa Monica.

Art Grenchi, a worker from the New York Port Authority, contacted SMFD to see if anyone was interested in using the piece for a memorial. When no one jumped at the offer, Inge took on the project.

“It was kind of handed to us, but no one took an interest in it so I did because it’s something we’d have for the next 50 years,” Inge said, adding he built the wood base himself and had it covered in granite and then engraved. The firefight-ers’ union and the SMFD shared the $2,800 cost.

A committee was formed and helped design the memorial, a project which took about a year from beginning to end. Committee members rifled through about 4,500 photos to select three for the sculpture, which depict port authority officers carrying a woman to safety, rescue workers helping people out of the buildings and the famous image that shows fire-fighters raising of the American Flag at Ground Zero.

Hone, who helped in the rescue operation in New York directly after the attacks, said the sculpture serves as a reminder of what this country lost, even though the images of devastation and the loss of life will forever be etched into his mind.

“Obviously the tragedy happening in the Gulf Coast right now should be the focus because people are suffering,” he said. “But at the same time, people still have some scars from 9-11.”

Hone was a member of the Federal Urban Search and Rescue Team, and had been called to six federal disasters since the early 1990s.

Two hours after the attacks, a state official called Hone and told him to get ready to board a military aircraft en route to New York. He was a representative of the California Office of Emergency Services Agency who was assigned to the 70-member Riverside Task Force, a job that involved making sure resources were effectively maintained during rescue operations.

Twenty-two hour work days followed as Hone and his team of 300 men worked to remove an estimated 5,000 to 9,000 tons of twisted wreckage from the southeast side of the debris field, as well as combing through 22 buildings in the immediate area. The team didn’t recover any survivors. The last person pulled from the wreckage alive — a woman who worked on the 13th floor of one of the towers — was found before Hone’s team arrived on scene.

He returned to Ground Zero a year after the attacks to pay his respects to many of the friends he lost there — fellow colleagues that Hone had served alongside during previous rescue operations.

Hone said he will return to Ground Zero in October during a trip with his wife to celebrate their anniversary, when he’ll also visit friends he worked with during the rescue operation. Hone, who continues to still be involved on a national level with emergency-related matters, said the terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina serve as a sharp reminder of how important it is to be prepared for disaster.

“We need to be prepared, not only emergency services, but the public because you don’t know when an emergency will take place,” he said.

> “We need to be prepared, not only emergency services, but the public because you don’t know when an emergency will take place.” — — JIM HONE SMFD Chief

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/091005-01_01.jpg)

Santa Monica Fire engineer Jim Inge helped bring a piece of the World Trade Center to Santa Monica that’s been turned into a memorial of the Sept. (Photo: Fabian Lewkowicz/Daily Press)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 10, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/091005.pdf?ref=smdp.com)