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B-K Lighting Honors 9/11 Firefighters09-17-15 | News

B-K Lighting Honors 9/11 Firefighters
Blue Dolphin Design & Engineering and Etendue Cafe to Host Event

New York Firefighter, Andrew Isolano spoke at the 14th Annual 9/11 Memorial Ceremony at B-K Lighting headquarters in Madera, Calif.

For the past 14 years, an annual September 11th ceremony has been held in honor of the fallen, fallen heroes and survivors of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in the skies. The ceremony was held at B-K Lighting in Madera, Calif.

This year's special guest was Andrew Isolano, who served as a New York Firefighter until he started coughing up blood from breathing toxic dust and was ordered to stop. He was off-duty that day, but rushed to the scene and labored at Ground Zero for the next two months.

Only 34 years old at the time and recently divorced from the mother of his two boys, Isolano lost 13 close friends in the attacks. Isolano attended 159 funerals in the weeks after 9/11. With each funeral, he noticed fewer people showing up. Andrew said each person's sacrifice was equally important so he kept going as long as he could endure it.

At the time, across the country in Clovis, Calif., David McDonald, Pelco president, was watching the rescuers sift through the rubble of the World Trade Center towers when he came up with a plan. The police and firefighters needed a place to get away from the unimaginable horror of an overwhelming task. He built a memorial tribute to the fallen public safety officers. He would open the doors of his security-camera company and his foothill estate to thousands of police officers and firefighters, flying them in chartered jets, for dedication of the memorial and a weekend holiday.

When the invitation to visit the California Memorial arrived, Isolano didn't want to go, "I came here unwillingly," Isolano said. "My buddy said I needed to go." Isolano says the trip to Fresno, three months after the attack, changed his life. As the plane lifted off the ground, he felt a burden lifted from his shoulders. "We had a fighter jet escort, and they were there to salute us," he said. "When we got in, there were marching bands, we signed autographs, and they treated us like rock stars. I told David McDonald it saved my life."

B-K Lighting President Nathan Sloan acknowledged "Heroes of the Central Valley" in his keynote speech. "As we recognize the brave men and women of the Central Valley, I am reminded of the challenges life throws at us and with every challenge brings the seeds of a stronger comeback." said Sloan. "We are honored to live amongst these remarkable human beings who have claimed victory from the evils of mankind."