The DFD was honored to participate in the "World Trade Center Trees Coming Home to Coatesville" event this afternoon.  Tower 45 was invited to form a memorial arch with Ladder 43 (Coatesville Fire Dept.) on South First Ave. at the entrance of the Graystone Society memorial event.

There were 17 DFD volunteers that witnessed and participated in the day-long event with the addition of several other Chester, Lancaster and Montgomery County fire companies.

In 1969, the Lukens Steel Company provided the structural steel for the World Trade Center North and South Towers.  The steel that Lukens supplied was the strongest portion of the buildings, as it provided support of the first nine floors.  The steel was shipped from the Coatesville facility to New York City by train for the construction of the towers when it was completed.

Forty-one years later twenty-eight flatbed tractor trailers from Landstar Trucking of Jacksonville, FL made the journey from the JFK Airport in New York City to Coatesville with a police escort.  The tractor trailers returned 500 tons of steel consisting of ten 50 ton sections of steel beams called "trees".  These beams were called trees due to their unique tree shape form.  The trees were donated to the Graystone Society by the Port Authority of New York.

The steel will be displayed in the upcoming National Iron and Steel Heritage Museum that will be built in the Lukens Historic District on South First Ave. in Coatesville. 

Editors Note:  Please click on the Daily Local News Link below to see a conversation with Mr. Tim Philman and some of the DFD volunteers after the arrival of the steel.  Mr. Philman was the driver of the second truck in the convoy and he stopped-by Tower 45 to get a photo of the arch and the firefighters.  Then this conversation took place.