But a look over to the stair steppers remembrance of the tragic day 15 years ago.
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Our local fighters were fully uniformed in their gear that weighs up to 30-pounds.
“This was the biggest one yet”, said Bridgeton Fire Department Captain Anthony A. Brago who organized the event.
Tony Scott of the Auckland Airport Rescue Fire Service started the memorial climb following the 2009 cool store fire in Tamahere, Hamilton, where several Kiwi firefighters lost their lives.
“That they were able to decide that they were going to risk their lives, and maybe lose their lives, to save thousands of other people keeps us going all the time”, Bersagel-Briese said. The attacks on the World Trade Center killed 343 firefighters from the New York City Fire Department, 70 law enforcement officers, and 9 EMTs.
“I’m a teacher and I remember keeping the kids inside for recess and not being able to tell them why”, she said.
The annual event raises money for the Fallen Firefighters Foundation.
Misek says that the firefighters wore all their heavy gear, making climbing 110 flights of stairs even more hard.
For more information on how you can donate, go to the Surviving Spouse and Family Endowment fund website.
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“Those firefighters responded to a call that nobody wants to get”. He describes the memorials and the anniversaries as a double-edged sword because in one sense, he is happy that everyone in the nation remembers those who fallen that day. Each step that we take in honor of these people represents a life that was lost.
