On Sept. 11, 2001, Great Neck firefighter Fred Sager received a call from a fellow firefighter and friend, Lee Ielpi. A member of the FDNY, Ielpi was at the World Trade Center but so was his son, Jonathan Ielpi, and he was missing.

For months, Sager and Lee Ielpi scoured the pile for survivors and remains. Jonathan Ielpi’s body was found exactly three months later on Dec. 11, 2001.

“He was found in the base of the South Tower, so he was killed at 9:59 [a.m.], the time the South Tower collapsed,” Sager said as he choked back tears. “Two thousand seven hundred and 39 people were murdered right there 23 years ago today.”

Great Neck’s Jonathan Ielpi was 29 when he died, leaving behind his wife and two young boys.

“The one positive way to look at this terrible tragedy was that approximately 25,000 people would evacuate from the World Trade Center,” Sager said.

About two dozen Great Neck community members and another two dozen local volunteer firefighters gathered on the 9-11 Memorial Bridge in Saddle Rock for a memorial service hosted by Temple Israel of Great Neck.

The bridge, which provides a perfect view of the Manhattan skyline, is where others assembled the day of the terrorist attacks to watch it unfold just miles away. The bridge was renamed in honor of that moment.

Sager, a former Great Neck Vigilant Fire Company chief, is a close family friend of the Ielpis and served with father Lee Ielpi as his lieutenant when Ielpi was chief.

Sager, who was working as an electrical supervisor at the Javits Center at the time of the attacks, said when he heard the news on the radio about the first plane crashing into the Trade Center, his first thought was whether it was the result of an accident. As he stood on 34th Street and looked downtown, he could see the plumes as the building burned.

But then the second plane hit.

“It was clearly now an attack,” Sager said.

What Sager experienced may have been divine intervention that day. Sager carried his firefighter gear in his car, but on Sept. 11 he drove his wife’s car and showed up without any gear. He said if he did have it, he would have immediately responded to the scene.

“So did it save my life?” Sager questioned. “I don’t know.”

Instead, Sager drove the four hours it took to get back home on the Island after getting clearance due to his firefighter credentials.

When he finally arrived at the Great Neck Vigilant Station on Cutter Mill Road, that’s when he got the call from Lee Ielpi about his missing son.

Sager and his wife went to the Ielpi home where they told the rest of the family and waited to hear any more news.

“The second we walked through the door they knew why we were there,” Sager said. “The whole house erupted. Very emotional, lots of hugging. It was not a good scene.”

Lee Ielpi returned home late that night, stepping out of his car and leaving a dark gray cloud of soot, Sager said.

Sager’s job changed after that day. He was no longer an electrical supervisor but rather helping to facilitate the recovery process as the Javits Center hosted a multitude of first responders from across the country aiding in the cause.

Sager recalled those days, describing the eeriness of going to the site at night.

Included in the aftermath response were rescue dogs looking for survivors. With many coming up short, the handlers would hide in the piles to encourage the dogs to keep searching and maybe turn up something they were untrained to find – corpses.

He said he and other rescuers were “digging with [their] noses” as they searched for bodies in the end-of-summer heat.

“The smell was horrific,” Sager said.

Rabbi Howard Stecker called for individuals to “recall and internalize” different lessons in remembering that day.

“We need to recognize the existence of real evil with which we cannot negotiate,” Stecker said. “We need to fight real evil when it manifests itself. We need to recognize the bonds of appreciation for democracy that keep us together as a society and lastly, we need to recognize that there are heroes among us who have walked this Earth, who continue to walk this Earth.”

Firefighters Park in Great Neck was renamed in honor of Jonathan Ielpi, which now bears his name.