Emergency workers mourn loss of firefighters

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Emergency workers in southwest Missouri mourned the 300 firefighters killed in the Sept. 11 terrorists attacks, and raised about $20,000 to help the widows and children of the fallen.

The tear-filled weekend ceremony at the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds grandstand drew a crowd of about 750 police officers, firefighters, and emergency medical technicians from across the region.

One of the speakers was Sen. Jean Carnahan, who recently had a fire at her Rolla area home. She praised the courage of firefighters for going into the Twin Towers as workers scrambled downstairs to get out.

"These men have performed an extra service to our country," she said before the event. "They were going in, and because of their heroism, thousands of lives were saved."

Bobbi Lurie of Springfield sat in the front row of the grandstand. In front of him, red, white and blue streamers and balloons covered the stage.

"I really feel like everybody in the country wants to show some sort of support," said Lurie, who has relatives in New York. "The general public at large needs a place to go to grieve and give thanks that we were not involved."

The Springfield Fire Department announced that it raised $9,000 for the Uniform Firefighters Association Widows and Orphans Fund in New York. A handful of firefighters from the Escondido, Calif., Fire Department are driving across the country collecting the donations.

After the ceremony, Mike Peltz, president of Firefighters Local 152, learned that Blockbuster Fireworks of Springfield donated an additional $10,000, pushing the Escondido Fire Department above its $100,000 goal.

The group now hopes to raise $250,000 for the fund.

"I'm sure the communities are going to allow that to happen," said Mike Diaz, fire engineer for the Escondido Fire Department. "In the communities, they want to know what to do. They can make sure the widows and orphans never have a need. They don't have any wants. Their fathers, their mothers, paid the ultimate price."