MANDAN, N.D. ( KXNET ) — Many people swore to never forget September 11th. Now, 23 years later, some of them paid a visit to the Mandan Sports Complex to perform a tribute unlike any other.

On Wednesday, firefighters, police officers, and emergency medical workers gathered at Starion Sports Complex in Mandan to join the 110-story stair climb — an activity that simulates the experience that New York City first responders faced as they tried to rescue people inside the World Trade Center towers.

The climb was exhausting for firefighters dressed in full gear, and supervisors say that’s the point. Sadly, more than 340 firefighters died when the trade towers collapsed, along with 23 NYPD officers and more than 2,600 other civilians.

“They made it up to the 78th floor,” says Mandan’s Fire Battalion Chief Shane Weltikol. “We know that for sure. Probably up to at least the 80th floor. They hit kind of a point where, I think a lot of them knew they might not be coming back out. But they knew there were people in there, and they had a job to do.”

“It’s good to see that there’s police, fire, EMS, and just everyday citizens here,” says Mandan Fire Chief Mitchell Bitz. “It really is a community that we live in, and that’s what really makes me proud. It doesn’t matter if you’re a firefighter or not. We’re a community in Bismarck and Mandan, and it’s nice to see everybody come together.”

Each person attending the event wore a badge with the picture and name of a New York City firefighter or police officer who died that day. Once they finished the stair climb, people announced the name of their person, and rang a memorial bell.

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