East metro firefighters gathered Friday on an Interstate 94 overpass to commemorate their New York City comrades who died rescuing people from the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, 2001.

Among the firefighters waving flags above a "Never Forget" banner were Jeff Ernewein of North St. Paul and Hudson, Wis., firefighters Mike Anderson and Charlie Smith.

They stood on a county overpass about a mile west of the St. Croix River, waving as truckers and other motorists blared their horns in support.

Anderson said firefighters will stand vigil all day. At 4:30 p.m. Friday, they expected that at least 1,000 people will gather on the overpass.

As part of that gathering, 15 fire trucks from several east metro cities rolled under the overpass in remembrance of the 14th anniversary of the attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people.