Local emergency personnel recall 9-11 attacks Their recollections are strong, even after 20 years. Local first responders remember where they were — and what they felt — when they heard and saw the terrorist attacks on New York City and Arlington, Virginia, and the unknown target of another airliner where passengers took control from terrorists and crashed in a field …

Richard Cummins retired from the Hobbs Fire Department in 1998 after a 21-year career doing everything from being the truck driver to working as an instructor. He liked teaching so much that after he retired he enrolled in college to become a school teacher, meeting his wife, Shannon, in the process. In 2008, Hobbs Fire Chief Manny Gomez called Cummins …