BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) — A piece of history rolled through Bakersfield on Wednesday morning, after the Bakersfield Fire Department received a 22-foot long structural steel girder from the World Trade Center.
The national artifact is one of many sent throughout the country for 9/11 memorials.
Fire department spokesman Anthony Galagaza said his department's request was approved because of where the memorial will be placed, in between a fire department and police substation.
"What it will do is bring the history of what happened on that tragic day to Bakersfield," said Galagaza.
Wednesday at 10:30 a.m., the piece was escorted through town by Bakersfield firefighters, Bakersfield police, the California Highway Patrol, Hall Ambulance and the Bakersfield Freedom Riders.
The girder was taken through Chester Avenue from Highway 58, to the fire department headquarters in downtown Bakersfield at 2101 H St.
Mike Edgar, a local truck driver who took the 12 day trip from Bakersfield to New York and back to pick up the artifact, said it was something he will remember forever.
"I had tears coming out of my eyes going down the freeway," said Edgar. "Makes you proud to be an American."
This coming Sept. 11, the memorial will be on display between the BPD substation and Fire Station No. 15 at 1315 Buena Vista Road.
A six-and-a-half-ton steel girder from the World Trade Center made its way into downtown Bakersfield Wednesday and is scheduled to be part of a 9-11 memorial.
The piece made its way on a flatbed truck from Highway 58 north on Chester Avenue, and then to Bakersfield Fire Department headquarters at 2101 H St.
Firefighters traveled to New York last month to retrieve the girder. They were accompanied by New York City firefighters as they accepted the girder from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
The piece was then transported across the country, arriving Wednesday morning.
Firefighters propose placing it at a memorial centered between Bakersfield Fire Department Station 15 and the Bakersfield Police Department substation at 1315 Buena Vista Road.