The City of Pasadena marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11 with a somber ceremony at Pasadena City Hall. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Pasadena Fire Department members at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Pasadena Fire Chief Chad Augustin at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Pasadena Police Chief Eugene Harris at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Attendee at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Pasadena Fire Department Chaplain Victor Laveaga at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Pasadena Councilmember Gene Masuda at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Pasadena Councilmember Rick Cole at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Pasadena Fire Department personnel at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Attendee at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Pasadena Councilmember Justin Jones at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Attendees at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Attendees at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Attendee at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Attendee at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
The City of Pasadena marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11 with a somber ceremony at Pasadena City Hall. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Pasadena Fire Department members at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Pasadena Police Department member at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Attendee at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Attendees at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Attendee at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Pasadena Police Department member at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Attendees at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Pasadena Police Department members at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Attendees at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Attendees at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Pasadena Fire Department members at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Pasadena Police Department members at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Pasadena Fire Department members at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Attendees at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Pasadena Fire Department member at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Attendees at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Attendee at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Pasadena Fire Department members at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Attendees at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Pasadena Fire Department members at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo with Juanita West Tillman at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Pasadena Fire Chief Chad Augustin and Pasadena Councilmember Steve Madison at the City of Pasadena ceremony at City Hall which marked the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Sept. 11, 2026. [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Pasadena’s fire and police departments marked the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks Friday morning with an honor guard, a ceremonial bell tribute and an American flag suspended from raised fire ladders outside City Hall.
The observance, which began at 7:30 a.m. in Centennial Square at 100 N. Garfield Ave., drew Mayor Victor M. Gordo, Fire Chief Chad Augustin, Police Chief Gene Harris, uniformed personnel from both departments and members of the public. Gordo recognized first responders and veterans who served before and after 2001, and said city officials including Councilmembers Justin Jones, Gene Masuda and Rick Cole were present.
“Welcome to our beautiful city hall where today we will acknowledge the 25th anniversary of one of the greatest and most tragic moments of our generation,” Gordo said in opening the ceremony. “Tragic because we all know what happened. Greatest because it brought us together in so many ways.”
Gordo then asked those gathered to stand for the presentation of the colors. Harris also spoke during the ceremony.
Augustin said 343 firefighters, paramedics and specialized personnel of the New York City Fire Department were killed responding to the attacks, and that exposure-related illnesses tied to work at Ground Zero have since claimed more lives than the 343 lost that day.
“They did what they were trained to do,” Augustin said. “They went to work, they helped others, and they put themselves in harm’s way to protect those that they served.”
Of those members, Augustin said, “We will never forget their courage, their sacrifice, and their service.” He closed by noting that nearly 3,000 people died at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and aboard Flight 93, then said the department would honor them through the fire service tradition of the last alarm.
Firefighters rang a ceremonial bell in tribute to those who died in the line of duty.
In the fire service, the bell is the oldest signal. It once called firefighters to the start of a shift, sounded each alarm that sent them out and marked the completion of a call when they returned. When a firefighter died in the line of duty, a final measured tolling announced the loss to the department — the last alarm, signifying that the duty is finished and the firefighter is going home.
Pasadena Fire Department Chaplain Victor Laveaga said the anniversary lands differently on firefighters and officers now on the job who were too young to remember the attacks.
“In many ways, this day is for you,” Laveaga said.
Laveaga read through the toll: 343 New York City firefighters and paramedics, 23 New York police officers, 37 Port Authority police officers, 125 civilians and military personnel at the Pentagon and 45 passengers aboard California-bound United Flight 93. He also remembered the hundreds of first responders who have since died of post-9/11 illnesses.
He described the feeling firefighters get arriving at a call they may not survive, and said the crews who reached the World Trade Center that day knew it.
“They had that feeling and then they went ahead anyway, many of them to certain death,” Laveaga said.
Gordo issued a proclamation designating Sept. 11 a Day of Remembrance in Pasadena, asking residents to reflect on the lives lost and renew a commitment to unity, peace and service.
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