LaGrange Fire Department to hold fifth annual 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb

Published 9:30 am Thursday, August 31, 2023

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On Monday Sept. 11, the LaGrange Fire Department will hold its fifth annual 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb at 9 a.m. at the Callaway Stadium.

Check-in will begin at 8 a.m. and interested parties can register on the day of the event. The cost for registration and a t-shirt is $25 per person.

The registration cost will benefit the Terry Farrell Firefighters Fund, a charity that was founded after 9/11 as a way to provide equipment to fire departments who are unable to purchase essential lifesaving gear on their own. The event typically brings in approximately $10,000 toward the fund.

Lt. Matt Oubre of the LFD said participants of the stair climb will go up and down approximately 2,200 steps, equivalent of the 110 flights of stairs firefighters climbed trying to save lives on September 11, 2001.

“The main reason we do this it is to honor everybody that that lost their lives on September 11., including the 343 members of the New York City Fire Department,” Oubre said.

He said the stair climb is a representation of both the courage and strength firefighters went through climbing the stairs of the World Trade Center and the reality of what being a firefighter is.

“Not only is this a way that we honor the fallen, but it’s also a way that we remind ourselves of the struggles and dangers that we face and putting on that gear and having to push ourselves to a point of physical exertion that we didn’t even know that we had in order to go to try to save people,” Oubre said. “We’re pushing ourselves to our limits to save other individuals in this stair climb to honor but also remind us of the importance of our job and what it means to us to serve and protect our community.”