Regina first responders remember 9/11 on 20th anniversary

REGINA -

Twenty-years-ago, the Twin Towers in New York City were destroyed during a series of terror attacks that left nearly 3,000 people dead and thousands injured on September 11, 2001.

On Saturday, fire halls across Regina lowered their flags to half mast to remember the lives lost.

Allison Dupuis, a retired RCMP officer, said she remembers the tragic even like it was yesterday.

“I was in a watch briefing and it was on in the corner of the room when we saw the planes crash into the towers,” Dupuis said.

Being a first responder, she said she felt the need to jump into action to help.

“It is a sense of powerlessness for sure, like you’re not there,” Dupuis said. “You just feel for the families for sure.”

Since the 9/11 attacks, the world has seen increased security measures, mostly in airports.

Glenn Wagner, Regina fire department’s assistant chief of operations, said there has also been changes to firefighting including better personal protective equipment and better incident response planning.

He added that many firefighters who responded to the attack are still dealing with the after effects. Wagner said about 250 firefighters have died since 9/11 due to in the line of duty deaths with cancer and other illnesses.

“It’s brought to the light a lot more about how volatile situations can be, how they change, how they can turn to a bad direction on you if you are not careful,” Wagner said.

Wagner said the possibly of an event like this happening again is minimal, but not impossible.

“It’s always in our mind,” said Wagner. “I mean you don’t know. It could look small on the outside, look like a minor incident, it can turn to a big incident in a really big hurry.”