Every year, millions of Americans pause on Sept. 11 to honor and remember those lost on 9/11/2001. Fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, cousins and friends…it seems like everyone knew someone touched by the tragedies of that awful day. And then, of course, there were the 343—the 343 members of the FDNY who made the ultimate sacrifice that day.
Some people will take a few minutes out of their busy day to remember those lost, others may stop and offer a silent pray, and still others will gather and listen as the names of the victims are read aloud in the annual ceremonies at each of the crash sites.
And then there are those who have their own tradition of honoring the 343. They gather together in tall buildings or stadiums around the country and climb. They climb stairs…lots of them…the equivalent of 110 stories to be exact. Many firefighters make the climb in full gear. It is a tradition like no other.
NFFF Memorial Stair Climb
The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation 9/11 Memorial Stair Climbs have become a staple of the season.
According to the NFFF website, “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.”
Oren Bersagel-Briese, who was one of those original five, explains how it all got started.
“A group of us from across the Denver metro area were meeting on the first Saturday of every month to climb stairs in full gear as a method of training and comradery,” he recalls. “As September 2005 approached, we opted to move the monthly gathering to Sept. 11, and that day, five of us met and spontaneously climbed 110 stories. At the completion of that initial climb, we knew that the stair climb could be a special way to remember, and we set a loose plan to do it again the next year.”
On Sept. 11, 2006, 12 Colorado firefighters made the climb. Word quickly spread, and by year three, Bersagel-Briese said about 150 firefighters took part.
“Every year since then, we have 343 firefighters climbing at 1801 California Street in downtown Denver,” he said.
Taking it nationwide
In late 2009, the Colorado firefighters met with then-NFFF Executive Director Ron Siarnicki to tell him more about what we were doing in Denver.
“In the course of that conversation, we laid out the rough roadmap to take the program nationally, with a goal of 50 climbs per year,” recalls Bersagel-Briese.
“The NFFF 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb program officially began in early 2010, when five of us wrote the initial Planning Guide for a stair climb event, and the first NFFF sanctioned events were held in Denver, Red Rocks (Colorado), and Nashville, TN.”
There are now NFFF-sponsored stair climbs in 41 states, including a Pierce-sponsored event at historic Lambeau Field in Green Bay, WI, with a goal of reaching at least one in every state in the near future.
The registration fees vary by location but are usually $35 per climber and the climbers receive a t-shirt and a badge honoring a fallen FDNY firefighter.
In 2023, more than 13,000 climbers raised $1.5 million to support the programs of the NFFF and the FDNY Counseling Service Unit.
Victor Stagnaro, CEO of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, discusses the background of the 9/11 Memorial Stair Climbs and how that helps firefighters nationwide and FDNY's Counseling Service Unit.
Virtual Climb
If there isn’t a stair climb in your area, or if the registration is full, you may still participate. Donations can be made on individual stair climb event pages or donations can be made directly to the New City 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb.
There is also a virtual stair climb available. Virtual participants can register to climb, walk, run or bike ride to honor the fallen firefighters across the country. Participants are encouraged to complete their selected activity between Sept. 11 and Dec. 31. All participants will receive an event t-shirt.
The Virtual Toolkit includes the badges for the FDNY 343, New York City Police Department, Port Authority Police Department and EMS workers who were killed on 9/11. Participants will also have access to a digital bell to ring when they complete the event. The event organizers ask that participants play an opening ceremony video before you start your activity.
Interested in hosting a stair climb in your area? Visit https://www.firehero.org/events/9-11-stair-climbs/host-climb/.
If you want to find a stair climb in your area, visit https://www.firehero.org/events/9-11-stair-climbs/.
Below is a list of upcoming climbs.
