BONNERS FERRY — Twenty-one years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Boundary County first responders and community members came together to remember the lives lost and to be reminded of the power of the human spirit.

First responders lined the fencing wall at the Boundary County Fairgrounds pavilion. Representatives from county and city fire districts, Boundary Ambulance, Idaho Department of Lands and the incident management team supporting firefighting efforts on the Kootenai River Complex Fires were present.

Boundary County PIO and Director of Emergency Management Andrew O’Neel told the Bonners Ferry Herald that firefighters out on the fire line also paused their work for a few minutes at 3 p.m., the same time the county ceremony started, to participate in the remembrance.

“They couldn't be there with us, so they paused work for a moment of silence, coordinated over the radios,” he said.

A total of 2,996 people died in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pa. Of those who died, 2,977 were direct victims of the attacks. About 6,000 people were injured in the attacks. Nineteen of the fatalities were the hijackers that conducted the attacks.

That day, 2,753 victims were killed at the World Trade Center and the surrounding area, 184 at the Pentagon, and 40 in Pennsylvania. Of those that died, 415 were emergency workers in New York who responded to the World Trade Center.

The deaths also include the 265 people on the four planes that were hijacked.

The program was put on by the Boundary County Chaplain Corps. Speakers shared the stories of those that were in the Twin Towers on 9/11. This year, there was an emphasis on the injuries of those that survived the attack and that are living with brain trauma, lung damage and other ailments that have developed over the years.

Len Pine, chaplain at BCCC, said out of that tragedy came some amazing things, including advancements in medical care.

“Out of that darkness and tragedy comes hope,” he said.

Dave Lotze of BCCC shared the story of the Survivor Tree, a Callery pear tree that was severely damaged at Ground Zero.

When the 8-foot-tall tree was recovered it was badly burned and had one single living branch. Planted between Towers 4 and 5 in the 1970s, it was not expected to survive.

In 2010, the tree was uprooted by a windstorm. After it was replanted, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, “We and the tree refuse to throw in the towel.”

The Survivor Tree was returned to the 9/11 Memorial and new, smooth limbs extended from the gnarled stumps, creating a visible demarcation between the tree’s past and present.

To this day the tree stands as a living reminder of resilience, survival, and rebirth.