Federal Way fire station holds unique 9/11 memorial with artifacts from all three crash sites
Sep 11, 2026, 7:51 AM
A 9/11 remembrance ceremony will be held in Federal Way this afternoon at one of the most unique fire stations in the country.
Tucked behind South King County Fire and Rescue’s Station 64 sits a memorial garden holding artifacts from all three September 11th crash sites: an I-beam from the World Trade Center aimed toward New York, a stone from the Flight 93 crash site in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and a piece of limestone from the Pentagon.
“I can’t think of anybody else locally who has, or actually even nationally, that has quite a setup or a memorial garden at the extent that we have and with the materials,” South King Fire Chief Ryan Woodey told KIRO Newsradio. “It’s very unusual.”
‘Hard to put into words’: Fire chief says artifacts hit differently than old footage
Fire Chief Ryan Woodey said standing in front of those pieces hits differently than just watching old footage of the attacks and the aftermath.
“It’s really hard to put into words the magnitude of an event like that. And me personally, not being connected to FDNY, you have a little bit of the almost like the imposter syndrome, if you will, about the events of that day,” he said. “I mean, you’re talking about over 2,900 lives lost, but how many countless lives were also saved from the actions of first responders is really remarkable. So, I think the reflection is just a great appreciation for the sacrifices people made and just realizing an event of that magnitude is just hard to comprehend.”
Why the memorial matters 25 years later
Woodey said the garden is even more important now, 25 years later, given that some of his firefighters were small children, or in some cases, hadn’t been born yet. He wants them to understand what so many people lost on that day.
“There are people out there that don’t have a son, don’t have a daughter,” he said. “There are sacrifices that are made. And when we don’t keep that front of mind, I think it shows a little level of, I don’t want to say disrespect, but it doesn’t honor that. So I think it’s important that we don’t forget the sacrifices that were made to save people. That’s a big deal. A lot — thousands of people were saved because of people’s selfless acts.”
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How to attend the ‘We Will Never Forget’ ceremony
South King Fire, Des Moines Police, and Federal Way Police will hold a “We Will Never Forget” 9/11 remembrance ceremony at 1 p.m. Friday at Station 64. Everyone is welcome.
Frank Lenzi is the News Director for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories here.
