More than a hundred firefighters and hundreds of community members climbed the stairs at Tech Ridge on Friday evening to honor the 343 firefighters who died climbing the stairs of the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. Hundreds of community members and over a hundred firefighters climb the stairs at Tech Ridge, St. George, Utah, Sept. 11, 2026. Photo by Stockton Myers, St. George News The St. George Firefighters Association organized the event to mark the 25th anniversary of 9/11 while honoring their comrades who died saving lives a quarter of a century ago. Community members climbed the stairs along with firefighters after signing up online. The association had to stop registration once 343 people signed up. googletag.cmd.push(function() { __tnt.ads.dfp.adDisplay = function(callback) { if (typeof callback === “function”) { var adSettings = { ‘audience’: ‘subscriber’, ‘block’: true }; if (callback(adSettings)) { document.getElementById(“in-story-video”).style.display = ‘none’; return false; } } googletag.display(‘in-story-video’); } __tnt.ads.dfp.adDisplay(__tnt.ads.dfp.dmp.audienceCheck); }); googletag.cmd.push(function() { __tnt.ads.dfp.adDisplay = function(callback) { if (typeof callback === “function”) { var adSettings = { ‘audience’: ‘subscribers’, ‘block’: true }; if (callback(adSettings)) { document.getElementById(“fixed_automatic_ad”).style.display = ‘none’; return false; } } googletag.display(‘fixed_automatic_ad’); } __tnt.ads.dfp.adDisplay(__tnt.ads.dfp.dmp.audienceCheck); }); From 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, the firefighters, equipped with gear weighing more than 60 pounds, completed five laps of climbing up the stairs at Tech Ridge. Each lap consisted of more than 300 steps, with five laps equating to the 94 floors those 343 firefighters climbed 25 years ago where the first plane hit the north tower of the World Trade Center in Manhattan. Hundreds of community members and over a hundred firefighters climb the stairs at Tech Ridge, St. George, Utah, Sept. 11, 2026. Photo by Stockton Myers, St. George News After completing the five laps, each participant would ring a bell at the top of the stairs, signalling the end of their run to the sound of applause from those watching the event. Deputy Chief Brad Esplin of the St. George Fire Department spoke to St. George News after climbing more than 1,200 stairs. Esplin’s face was much like every other firefighter after they finished the five laps, completely covered in a thick layer of sweat from head to toe, his dark T-shirt looking more black than dark blue, and an expression of exhaustion.#placement_766415_0_i{width:100%;margin:0 auto;}var rnd = window.rnd || Math.floor(Math.random()*10e6);var pid766415 = window.pid766415 || rnd;var plc766415 = window.plc766415 || 0;var abkw = window.abkw || ”;var absrc = ‘https://ads.empowerlocal.co/adserve/;ID=181918;size=0x0;setID=766415;type=js;sw=’+screen.width+’;sh=’+screen.height+’;spr=’+window.devicePixelRatio+’;kw=’+abkw+’;pid=’+pid766415+’;place=’+(plc766415++)+’;rnd=’+rnd+’;click=CLICK_MACRO_PLACEHOLDER’;var _absrc = absrc.split(“type=js”); absrc = _absrc[0] + ‘type=js;referrer=’ + encodeURIComponent(document.location.href) + _absrc[1];document.write(‘ ‘); googletag.cmd.push(function() { __tnt.ads.dfp.adDisplay = function(callback) { if (typeof callback === “function”) { var adSettings = { ‘audience’: ‘subscriber’, ‘block’: true }; if (callback(adSettings)) { document.getElementById(“fixed_automatic_ad”).style.display = ‘none’; return false; } } googletag.display(‘fixed_automatic_ad’); } __tnt.ads.dfp.adDisplay(__tnt.ads.dfp.dmp.audienceCheck); }); “When I witnessed 9/11, it wasn’t like a life-changing moment where I knew I was going to be a firefighter at that moment, but for me, I think worldwide we just had such a great respect for that profession,” Esplin said.Esplin said many Americans still remember where they were during 9/11. For him, he was a newlywed attending college. He said he recalls how the situation grew more dire as news reports rolled in throughout that day.Esplin said many firefighters make a similar climb to honor the first responders lost on 9/11, but having over a hundred firefighters along with over 200 community members making the climb at Tech Ridge was surreal. Firefighters and members of community rest and converse after climbing the stairs at Tech Ridge five times, St. George, Utah, Sept. 11, 2026. Photo by Stockton Myers, St. George News “We were blown away by how many people showed up,” Esplin said. “We were hoping to get 200 in the beginning, and then we hit our 200 mark, and we’re like, let’s go for 343, and then we had to close it because we had so many people sign up. When we started, this place was just packed with 115 first responders, and then hundreds of community members that came out to just have them along with us, which was really awesome for us.”Esplin thanked every member of the community in attendance for making time to honor the many men and women who lost their lives 25 years ago and also expressed his love and appreciation for his comrades and friends who save lives every day. googletag.cmd.push(function() { __tnt.ads.dfp.adDisplay = function(callback) { if (typeof callback === “function”) { var adSettings = { ‘audience’: ‘subscribers’, ‘block’: true }; if (callback(adSettings)) { document.getElementById(“fixed_automatic_ad”).style.display = ‘none’; return false; } } googletag.display(‘fixed_automatic_ad’); } __tnt.ads.dfp.adDisplay(__tnt.ads.dfp.dmp.audienceCheck); });Read More
Hundreds climb Tech Ridge stairs with firefighters to honor those who lost their lives on 9/11
