By Randy Griffith
The Tribune-Democrat
SHANKSVILLE, Pa. — An American flag that flew over the U.S. Capitol on 9/11, delivered by former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, was destroyed in a fire that ravaged temporary headquarters buildings Friday at the Flight 93 National Memorial.
Also lost were a handful of personal items of passengers and crew, the only known copies of DVD recordings of the annual commemoration ceremony and meetings of the Flight 93 National Memorial Federal Advisory Commission and about 100 tribute items left by visitors since 2001.
National Park Service officials announced the losses late Saturday, noting that most, if not all, of the 820 oral history recordings and 480 DVDs with tens of thousands of photographs were preserved.
“While the headquarters complex is a complete loss, we continue to be grateful that there was no loss of life to visitors or employees, especially given the speed with which the fire engulfed the structures,” park service spokesman Mike Litterst said Saturday.
Seven people were working in the buildings when one noticed smoke in a covered walkway between two trailer structures.
Winds gusting across the former strip mine site quickly accelerated the flames.
An employee who is also a Shanksville Volunteer Fire Company firefighter tried to put out the blaze, Litterst said Saturday while escorting media representatives to the fire scene.
“He was able to empty four fire extinguishers onto the blaze, but high winds just whipped it up too quickly,” Litterst said.
The employee’s face was reddened by the heat. He was not claiming an injury, said Keith Newlin, park service deputy superintendent for western Pennsylvania.
“We are just watching him,” Newlin said.
The seven workers included two National Park Service employees, three Friends of Flight 93 employees and two contractors, Newlin said.
Four trailer units were destroyed. They included a single unit with a kitchen and some work area, a single unit used for storing archives and a double-wide structure with offices and a reception area.
A second double-wide trailer survived mostly intact, Newlin said. It held a library and conference room, with two small offices, he said.
“There was the wherewithal to close the doors, so there is smoke damage,” Newlin said. “It is not severe, though.”
The two double-wide offices were connected at one end of the group of trailers. A raised deck from the office entrance extended about 75 feet, creating a walkway between the two single-unit trailers.
Initial reports said the fire was first noticed near the kitchen door, but Litterst said Saturday, “Now they are looking at a point of origin farther down.”
State police and the park service are working together investigate the blaze. The cause hasn’t been determined, Litterst said.
There were no sprinklers or other fire suppression system in the wood-frame structures, which were serving as a temporary headquarters until the visitors center is built.
The oral histories include recordings of first-responders, eyewitnesses, investigators, government officials and passengers’ family members, friends and co-workers. The project began in 2005 and continues.
There were no off-site backups, Newlin said.
“We haven’t gotten that far yet,” he said.
Although thousands more tribute items left by visitors are stored in other locations, the estimated 100 lost in the fire had been selected because of their importance to the Flight 93 story, Litterst said.
They were at the headquarters site to be photographed, measured and prepared for display in exhibits at the new visitors center.
Fire did not affect the under-construction visitors center, about 2 miles away.
The memorial complex marks the spot where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed during the Sept. 11 attacks. The plane was traveling from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco, when hijackers diverted it toward Washington. It went down in a reclaimed strip mine after passengers fought back against the hijackers. All 33 passengers and seven crew members were killed along with the hijackers.
A memorial plaza was completed in time for the 10th anniversary of the attacks in 2011. There are plans for a 93-foot-tall tower with 40 wind chimes.
Officials have said they hope construction of the visitors center will be finished by June.
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