HVFD Probationary Members Vanessa Lugo and Krista Barham, both currently taking EMT courses, were among hundreds of participants in Saturday’s 9/11 Stair Climb at National Harbor, which supports the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.
The 9-11 Memorial Stair Climbs are not timed race events, but a way for firefighters and the community to honor and remember the FDNY firefighters who selflessly gave their lives so that others might live.
Each participant pays tribute to a FDNY firefighter by climbing or walking the equivalent of the 110 stories of the World Trade Center.
The first stair climb held to support the mission of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation was held on September 11, 2005. when five Colorado firefighters convened at a high-rise building in downtown Denver to climb 110 flights of stairs in memory of their FDNY brothers who were killed in the terrorist attacks of 9-11. The following year, tweleve firefighters participated, representing four fire departments from the metro Denver area. Each subsequent years, attendance grew, until it was capped at 343 participants in 2008.
Since its beginning, the Denver 9-11 Memorial Stair Climb has evolved into a much anticipated annual events, and generated interest from individuals across the country who hoped to adapt the format and host an event in their cities. In 2010, the original Denver team partnered with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation to create a template that would enable coordinator to successfully replicate a 9-11 Memorial Stair Climb anywhere in the United States.
