9/11 Fire Truck Stops In Mustang

For the first time, one of the fire trucks damaged in the September 11, 2001 attacks rolled in to our state.

Rescue 5 from the New York City Fire Department has been making its way across the country making stops at schools.

The attacks on 9/11 happened well before any of these elementary school students were born, so a group of firefighters is making it their mission to make sure people never forget.

Close to 200 fourth graders in Mustang Trails Elementary School got a crash course on all things 9/11 with help from the Mustang Fire Department.

"Double the Devon Tower, and that's how tall these 2 buildings were," James Roberts, a driver, engineer and paramedic for New Smyrna Beach Fire and Rescue Department, said.

"The FDNY firefighters carried these high-rise hose packs up 90 flights of stairs and were actively engaged in firefighting when the towers collapsed."

Roberts and another firefighter from Florida took vacation days to drive a once-damaged New York City Fire Truck across the country as part of the Remembrance Rescue Project.

"As a brotherhood of the fire service, we like to go out and tell the story, and remember what happened and the events of what happened, and how it changed America," Roberts said.

"A lot of the kids are in somewhat of a shock, they've learned about it, and they've read books about it, but they've never actually seen a New York fire truck or been to New York."

On September 11, 2001, Fire engine Rescue 5 was covered in dust, debris and lost doors, windows and several firefighters.

On the truck's door are the names and pictures of the firemen a part of Rescue Company 5, who died on 9/11. The rolling memorial only stopped at six Mustang Schools in Oklahoma, showing off a piece of history many may've never seen otherwise.

"Because we are pretty far from New York, just to see the real truck was priceless," Gaye Sanders, fourth-grade teacher at Mustang Trails Elementary Schools, said.

"They were very impressed, and they've all seen fire trucks before. They're in fourth grade so they've seen them, but they knew this one was special. They knew that this one was from 9/11."

This truck is headed next to Amarillo and Albuquerque to visit more schools, before traveling throughout the West Coast to finish off its educational tour.

Rescue 5 came to the FDNY in 1996 and was restored after 9/11 before it went out of use in 2010. The engine is now based at the Chicago Fire Department, where firefighters founded the nonprofit Remembrance Rescue Project in 2011. Firefighters from across the country take turns volunteering their time to drive the truck and spread the legacy of the 9/11 rescuers.

Click here to learn more about the project.