COMMERCIAL POINT, Ohio — Scioto Township firefighters strapped on air tanks and full turnout gear Friday and climbed the football stadium bleachers at Teays Valley West Middle School, marking the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks with a memorial stair climb.
The Scioto Township Fire Department said in a Facebook post that its firefighters “took time to remember September 11” with the exercise, adding, “Never forget.”
Memorial stair climbs have become a nationwide tradition since 2005, when five Denver-area firefighters first climbed 110 flights of stairs in a downtown high-rise to honor the 343 members of the New York City Fire Department who died in the line of duty when the World Trade Center towers collapsed. The twin towers stood 110 stories tall, and participants in memorial climbs across the country typically don full protective gear to retrace that height, symbolizing the ascent FDNY firefighters made as thousands of people evacuated the buildings on Sept. 11, 2001.
This year’s observance fell on the 25th anniversary of the attacks. The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation this year launched a nationwide campaign inviting departments and residents to complete 2,200 steps — the equivalent of the 110-story climb — in memory of the firefighters killed on Sept. 11 and those who have died in the line of duty since.
Scioto Township Fire Department, based in Commercial Point, provides fire protection, rescue and advanced life support emergency medical services to about 11,000 residents in Scioto Township and the villages of Commercial Point and Orient. The department is staffed by 15 firefighters, an assistant chief and a fire chief, along with about 21 part-time personnel, according to the department.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Scioto Township Fire Department.
