Aptos firefighters adjust 9/11 remembrance ceremony due to COVID-19 regulations

APTOS, Calif. (KION) The annual Sept. 11 ceremonial stair climb at Seacliff State Beach was not allowed this year due to COVID-19 regulations, but the Aptos-La Selva Firefighters Union pivoted to a smaller, socially-distanced remembrance event.

The bagpipes blared Friday morning in the parking lot of Resurrection Church in Aptos in honor of the 343 firefighters and 60 law enforcement officers who died at the World Trade Center.

All of their names were read out-loud as a fire truck bell rang each time.

Firefighter Steve Vratny, who hosted the ceremony, said he wanted to ensure that the event still happened, even if it looked different this year.

"The 9/11 event in 2001 was the largest loss of life of first responders in our nation's history by a mile, so it's important not to let the day go by without doing something, and it's our way of never forgetting the sacrifice made by those who gave it all in the hope that others might," he said.

Not many firefighters were able to attend the event. Vratny said that is because they still have strike teams working on the CZU Lightning Complex Fires.