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On Monday morning, local firefighters and police officers gathered at Callaway Stadium for the 2023 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb. The event hosted by the LaGrange Fire Department has become an annual tradition since 2018.

The stair climb is held each year to honor the 304 firefighters who lost their lives responding to the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001.  Participants climbed 110 flights of stairs to reenact the ones climbed by the firefighters who lost their lives in the World Trade Center on that tragic September day. 

There were 110 flights of stairs in the Twin Towers before their destruction during the terrorist attack,

Many firefighters performed the already grueling challenge in full —and hot— fire protection gear.

The stair climb started as a private event for firefighters but it has since transitioned to a fundraiser to support the Terry Farrell Firefighter Fund. Beginning in 2019, the public has been invited to participate in the challenge as a fundraiser. Participants were allowed to join in the challenge for a $25 entry fee. 

Proceeds from the event go to the Terry Farrell Fund, which was founded after 9/11. The fund provides firefighting equipment to fire departments that cannot afford it.

LFD Lt. Matt Oubre, who helps organize the annual event, said participants will go up and down approximately 2,200 steps.

“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,” Oubre said before the event.

“We invite anyone who wants to participate to come out and join in,” Oubre said