Thousands of miles from where the World Trade Center once stood, an island community is honoring and mourning those lost in the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Two years ago, fire chief Mike Harris put in a request for an “artifact” from the Twin Towers. The six-foot long, 750-pound “I” beam has just arrived on Orcas and will be dedicated to the community during a 9/11 memorial ceremony on Sept. 11.

“The fire service is a huge brother- and sisterhood,” Harris said. “The largest loss of life in the United States for firefighters was on that day at the World Trade Center. One out of every 10 people who died was a firefighter. When we were made aware that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was allowing fire departments to get artifacts, we jumped at the chance.”

The steel beam could have been delivered, but Harris opted to send a volunteer member to retrieve it.

“It’s not a piece of cargo; it’s a piece of history,” he said.

On Aug. 10, firefighter and EMT Ted McKey, with his dog Merry riding shotgun, left in his F-250 pickup to begin the journey to the East Coast. He had family business in Massachusetts, so McKey happily offered to make the transport. He arrived at “Hangar 17” at JFK airport on Aug. 16. By mid-morning, his truck was loaded with the beam and he was headed back west. He arrived on Orcas last Saturday.

“I was the smallest vehicle there,” McKey said. “And I was one of the very few firefighters picking up a piece.”

McKey says it wasn’t until he began driving back across the country that he felt the magnitude of his cargo.

“The true value of this World Trade Center relic wasn’t so much as a gravestone or memorial so much as it is a light-house or a beacon,” he said. “It honors not just what the 343 firefighters were attempting, but what we all attempt –whether as parents, kindergarten teachers, or civil servants dressed in a uniform – when we offer a hand in service to another person.”

The beam will be dedicated on Sept. 11 at 8:45 a.m. during Orcas Fire and Rescue’s annual ceremony. The community is encouraged to attend or view the artifact inside the station during business hours.

The department plans to create a permanent 9/11 memorial site. Harris is asking local artists with experience in large metal sculpture to help design a fitting memorial, which he hopes will be completed by Sept. 11, 2012. It’s likely to be incorporated into the memorial garden that was created three years ago to commemorate Orcas firefighters who passed away while still members of the department. Some in the community were unhappy that taxpayers’ money was used to build the garden; this time around, Harris says, “we learned our lesson.”

“We made sure we weren’t doing the 9/11 memorial with any tax dollars,” he said. “Our goal is to enlarge the memorial garden. We do not have a cost estimate yet but hope to within a month. All costs and expenses to this point have been donated by Orcas Fire and Rescue members and the Orcas Island Volunteer Firefighters Association.”