OBSERVER Photo by Mary Heyl Dunkirk High School sophomore Michille Gnadzinski sang the National Anthem during the Dunkirk Fire Department’s 9/11 remembrance ceremony in 2019.

The Dunkirk Fire Department annual Sept. 11 ceremony will not be a public event this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Firefighters will hold a private remembrance ceremony to reflect on the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001 and to memorialize all lives lost during the attacks that day. “Unfortunately this year with the pandemic we choose not to hold our ceremony publicly but as a group we will honor our pledge to the first responders who lost their lives,” the news item from the department notes. “That pledge being that we will never forget the extreme sacrifice made while rescuing thousands on that day. We are asking all to join Dunkirk Fire Department members in observing a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 11.”