`Out of Rubble' 9-11 sculpture visits fire hall

Thomas said it was his dream to carve a tribute to New York City firefighters killed at the World Trade Center and personally present it to their comrades. The effort has expanded to include three plane loads of Oregon firefighters who are now planning to fly to New York in mid-March for St. Patrick's Day weekend events, including the dedication of the massive chainsaw sculpture.

Skip Passenger, Deputy Chief of Siuslaw Valley Fire & Rescue in Florence, will be among them. They would arrive at about the same time that Thomas and his traveling companions pull into the Big Apple after towing the 10-and-a-half-foot, 2,500-pound sculpture across the country.

The sculpture, created from a Sitka spruce log, depicts three firemen raising a U.S. flag on the rubble at Ground Zero. Thomas has titled it Out of the Rubble.

Boswell and Thomas, who owns Lakeshore Carvings on Highway 101 at Woahink Lake south of Florence, left Florence Feb. 23 and will arrive in New York on March 11 -- six months to the day after the bombing. The route will include stops at firehouses in approximately 80 cities and towns along the way.

Together in New York, Thomas, Boswell, SVFR representatives and the other Oregon firefighters will march in the city's St. Patrick's Day Parade. The dedication of the sculpture at a still-to-be-determined site will culminate the weekend and the entire odyssey.

T-shirts are currently being sold to help defray the expense of getting the sculpture to New York. The shirts cost $20. For details call Lakeshore Carvings, 541-997-9295.