{"id":31808,"date":"2023-09-11T18:25:34","date_gmt":"2023-09-12T00:25:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dozens-pay-tribute-to-9-11-service-members-during-durango-stair-climb\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T01:46:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T07:46:34","slug":"dozens-pay-tribute-to-9-11-service-members-during-durango-stair-climb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dozens-pay-tribute-to-9-11-service-members-during-durango-stair-climb\/","title":{"rendered":"Dozens pay tribute to 9\/11 service members during Durango stair climb"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=b894e02b-0516-5f46-84c0-3e905e170d05&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" alt=\"Capt. Breaux Burns, left, and Ty Matthys with Durango Fire Protection District participate in the 9\/11 Stair Climb on Monday in Durango. The Stair Climb honors service members who died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. (Shane Benjamin\/Durango Herald)\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">Capt. Breaux Burns, left, and Ty Matthys with Durango Fire Protection District participate in the 9\/11 Stair Climb on Monday in Durango. The Stair Climb honors service members who died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. (Shane Benjamin\/Durango Herald)<\/span><span class=\"credit\">cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>Firefighters, law enforcement and community members climbed the Sky Steps just west of Fort Lewis College on Monday in commemoration of service members who responded to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York City.<\/p>\n<p>Firefighters said it was a chance to reflect on the commitment and sacrifice men and women in the emergency services made 22 years ago, as well as the dedication first responders give to their communities every day.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are people entering the fire service that weren\u2019t even alive on that day, which is kind of hard for some of us to believe who were alive that day and remember it,\u201d said Deputy Chief Randy Black, with Durango Fire Protection District.<\/p>\n<p>The day began about 9 a.m. at the top of the Sky Steps, with a short speech read by Capt. Mark Fleming with Upper Pine River Fire Protection District.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour involvement, irrespective of participation in climbing the stairs, pays homage and preserves the memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice,\u201d Fleming said.<\/p>\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=83bfff5b-f74b-5ab9-b298-978f63f1787a&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" alt=\"John Learned, carrying the flag, and Chris Ziegler, both with Durango Fire Protection District, make their way to the top of the Sky Steps at Fort Lewis College on Monday. (Matt Hollinshead\/Durango Herald)\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">John Learned, carrying the flag, and Chris Ziegler, both with Durango Fire Protection District, make their way to the top of the Sky Steps at Fort Lewis College on Monday. (Matt Hollinshead\/Durango Herald)<\/span><span class=\"credit\">cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>Several dozen first responders then descended the Sky Steps and then climbed them, completing five laps to signify the highest point firefighters climbed in the World Trade Center \u2013 110 levels \u2013 before the towers collapsed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen that tower came down, I go, \u2018They\u2019re all (expletive) dead,\u2019\u201d said Rich Dory, choking back tears.<\/p>\n<p>Dory, who worked with the Chicago Fire Department for 37 years, was part of a FEMA team that went to Ground Zero a week after 9\/11 to help dig through the debris in search of victims.<\/p>\n<p>He choked up again when remembering the letters family members left on site in those early days.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey were all saying, \u2018Daddy, I miss you and I hope you\u2019re OK,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cThat affected me more than anything. \u2026 It was brutal.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video wp-block-embed-youtube naviga-video-embed\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GK4Mgd9Rte0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The Sky Steps run from the base of East Sixth Avenue and 10th Street to the top of Fort Lewis College Mesa.<\/p>\n<p>Firefighters and law enforcement patted each other on the backs and shoulders as they passed each other along the 750-foot route. At the 343rd step, they rang a bell in honor of the 343 firefighters who died on 9\/11 in the towers.<\/p>\n<p>Several firefighters wore full gear, which weighed 40 pounds. One also carried a chainsaw. They switched off carrying an American flag up and down the steps. At the top of the steps, many touched the remains of a steel I-beam that used to be part of the World Trade Center.<\/p>\n<p>Black said 9\/11 was one of the worst days for the country and first responders, but emergency workers run toward danger every day in an effort to save lives while others make their escape. Even during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, firefighters put their own health at risk in the pursuit of helping others, he said.<\/p>\n<p><!-- gallery:9c6c18db-f4cb-4b73-85d8-0234db52d11b --><\/p>\n<p>The 9\/11 Stair Climb, in its eighth year, was organized by Fleming and Capt. Breaux Burns, with the Durango Fire Protection District.<\/p>\n<p>The Stair Climb is in no way intended to be a fun outing or sporting exercise, Burns said. Rather, it reflects the selflessness and ultimate sacrifice others made in the spirit of helping others, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey didn\u2019t want to go to the Twin Towers and parish,\u201d Burns said. \u201cSo this is to pay homage to the 343 firefighters who died and a bunch of EMS and police officers, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Several participants also served in the military, including Burns and Durango Police Department Chief Bob Brammer.<\/p>\n<p>Burns served as a Marine at the time of 9\/11. He was deployed to Iraq in 2003, a direct response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, he said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video wp-block-embed-youtube naviga-video-embed\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4Y1OUWXl7_I\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cAs firefighters, we\u2019re pretty much going to war every day, just in a different manner,\u201d Burns said. \u201cWe see some things that other people don\u2019t see, and we do things that other people don\u2019t do. And we love our jobs, but at times we have a hard job.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fleming said the Stair Climb is a way to empathize with the service members who died on 9\/11, particularly the New York City Fire Department.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think that participating in a stair climb like this almost makes you (understand) not only what they were up against, but just how physically demanding, mentally demanding this job can be,\u201d Fleming said. \u201cThe first responders will give it all to save others.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em id=\"emphasis-fcc62fd150200141cd96413c4236e622\"><a href=\"mailto:shane@durangoherald.com\">shane@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Firefighters, law enforcement complete Sky Steps in honor of fallen first responders<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31809,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[2478,1480,28,52,1370],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-31808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-act-of-terror","tag-durango-fire-protection-district","tag-headlines","tag-law-enforcement","tag-upper-pine-river-fire-protection-district"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31808"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31808\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81573,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31808\/revisions\/81573"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31808"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=31808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}