Cities unite in silence

Standing in silence, Newport Beach Fire Chief Steve Lewis remembered what it was like at Ground Zero in the weeks after the attacks, seeing people’s items and papers from their offices scattered on the ground and imagining firefighters like him making their way up the towers to save others.

“It really brings to light that it’s not just numbers — it’s people. It hit me for a second, it was a very, very surreal moment in history for me to be there. And to see that town, that place change like that, it was very moving,” he said. “I thought about the first responders, when they walked those stairs, they didn’t know it was going to collapse. They had a job to do. There’s never a thought, ‘You can’t do that.’ ”

On Thursday, the seventh anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Newport-Mesa city and public safety officials joined millions around the country in various moments of silence honoring those who died.

Both Newport Beach and Costa Mesa firefighters stepped out of their stations Thursday morning and joined in a moment of silence at their respective stations.

Firefighters throughout Orange County gathered in Santa Ana and honored the fallen firefighters in New York and their own who have died in the past year.

Motorcycle-riding firefighters from around the county also joined others in a huge congregation of bikes riding up the coast donning American flags on the backs.

For some, 9/11 serves as an annual reminder to tell the ones they love how much they mean to them. For others, it’s a time to pray for those who died and for the families of the survivors.

For many, and as the Sept. 11, 2001, date grows increasingly distant, it’s a time to reflect on not just the events of that day, but also how they’ve changed the world forever.

“It changed the course of history. It’s amazing the ramifications of this one event,” Lewis said.

Costa Mesa Fire Department Battalion Chief Scott Broussard considered how 9/11 changed this country’s path.

“I thought about the devastation going through the families and going to the firefighters, police and civilians. How much that outcropped to so many individuals affected,” Broussard said. “The families that had been affected because of the ensuing war, Iraq, Afghanistan, and have sent them out to go out and seek terrorists, to take it to them ... All the things we’re doing instead of sitting back and playing defense.”

“We wouldn’t be in Iraq, as much into Afghanistan,” he continued. “How that one act changed the way we think about many things in this nation and how we look at our future and what it means to us to retain that.”

Costa Mesa Police Chief Chris Shawkey thought about how grateful he was to work with the people he does, and how that day has changed his line of work forever.

“I certainly consider myself fortunate that I get to work with people every day that are willing to run into a building when everyone else is running out,” Shawkey said. “Last week, I was watching some video [of the attacks] again, you just can’t forget. It’s changed the face of law enforcement ... I have a terrorism liaison officer in my department. We belong to the joint terrorism center. We’re doing things we’ve never dreamed. Things that we’d never be doing.”

“We hear the cliche ‘never forget,’ but we shouldn’t forget,” Shawkey said. “ It should be taught in our schools. Those images are burned into my mind.”

JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at joseph.serna@latimes.com.