The team of four Gig Harbor Firefighters, Kent Cooper, Rob McCoy, Josh Bissenas, and Ryan Watson, picked up the World Trade Center artifact on Wednesday at Hanger 17 at JFK Airport.

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On Thursday, they visited Ground Zero, received a tour of New York Harbor on the "Firefighter", and attended the commissioning ceremony for FDNY's newest fire boat "Bravest," which was built in Port Orchard.

The artifact from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City was awarded to Gig Harbor Fire and Medic One. It was the second piece of steel to be awarded to an agency in Washington.

The steel, identified as “Piece H-0028c” weighs 986 pounds and is five feet long, Gig Harbor Assistant Chief Eric Watson said.

The agency plans to incorporate the steel into a memorial garden that will honor and remember the victims and emergency services workers who were killed in the terrorist attacks. The garden will be located in a public area of one of Gig Harbor Fire's facilities.

Four Gig Harbor firefighters drove a fire district pickup truck to New York City and back to retrieve the artifact. They took personal time off, and funded the trip with donations and their own money.

The firefighters chronicled their travels to New York and back on the Fire District’s Facebook page.