Albuquerque area firefighters climb 110 flights of stairs in honor of 9/11 first responders

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – For more than 20 years, local area firefighters have commemorated the anniversary of September 11 with a grueling climb and they continued that tradition on Wednesday. Fire crews wore their full gear to ascend 110 flights of stairs which is the same height walked by first responders as they rescued people from the attack on the twin towers.

“The thing we need to remember now, being 23 years removed, is that we’re hiring at 18 years old…That’s the purpose of this ceremony, to not just our own personal way to remember, but to make sure that the younger generations that are coming up never forget,” said Lt. Jason Fejer, Albuquerque Fire Rescue.

The participants used the 22-story staircase inside the Washington Federal Building in downtown Albuquerque. Out of the more than 2,700 hundred killed in New York on 9/11, 343 were firefighters and paramedics.

The city also held its annual ceremony at Civic Plaza on Wednesday afternoon honoring the nearly 3,000 people killed with a 21-gun salute.

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