PHILADELPHIA: Fire Commissioner Adam K. Thiel announced today that the Philadelphia Fire Department — in partnership with the PFD Family Association, Red Paw Emergency Relief Team and the Philadelphia Second Alarmers — will host the first annual 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb & 5K Walk to honor the memories of the 343 Fallen Heroes lost in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
The Stair Climb will be held on Saturday, September 23, at Lincoln Financial Field. A brief remembrance ceremony will begin at 8 a.m. before climbers hit the stairs on the upper deck at 8:45 a.m.
The Philadelphia Fire Department wanted to do something more this year to commemorate 9/11 by engaging and challenging its members and city residents. This event will bring hundreds of people together to climb or walk (the 5K Walk loops around the Lincoln Financial Field property) a symbolic distance equal to the height of the Twin Towers. Each participant carries a photo badge representing one of the 343 fallen FDNY members, giving more profound meaning and a personal connection to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice that day.
“We are honored to help organize the first annual 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb & 5K Walk in Philadelphia,” said Commissioner Thiel. “We will climb 110 stories – the height of the World Trade Center – because they climbed.”
The event is not a timed race but an exercise in endurance. Online registration at Philly911StairClimb.org will end at 11 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 22. Walk-up registration will open at 7 a.m. on the morning of the event.
“Our goal is to have one participant for each of the 343 FDNY members who lost their lives at the Twin Towers,” Thiel said. “There’s still time to register at Philly911StairClimb.org, and if you wish to walk instead, please enter our 5K Walk. We welcome everyone to take part in this meaningful event.”
The proceeds will benefit the FDNY Counseling Unit and the programs provided by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation to support the families of our nation’s fallen firefighters. For more information about the 9/11 Memorial Stair Climbs and the NFFF, go to www.firehero.org.
The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation was created by the U.S. Congress to lead a nationwide effort to honor America’s fallen firefighters. Since 1992, the nonprofit foundation has developed and expanded programs that fulfill that mandate. Their mission is to honor and remember America’s fallen fire heroes; to provide resources to assist their survivors in rebuilding their lives; and to work within the fire service community to reduce firefighter deaths and injuries.