Camaraderie and solemnity were the mood Wednesday at Fort Lewis College’s Sky Steps where area first responders gathered to honor the firefighters who gave their lives to rescue others on Sept. 11, 2001.
Wednesday marked the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks that claimed the lives of 2,977 immediate victims and left tens of thousands of first responders physically and mentally traumatized and at higher risk of cancers due to asbestos exposure, according to the Never Forget Project.
Members from at least seven first responder agencies met at the Sky Steps on Rim Drive in Durango where they descended and ascended 529 steps and 250 feet in elevation five times in a symbolic tribute to first responders who braved the blazing buildings and made the ultimate sacrifice when duty called.
Some firefighters wore full bunker gear and carried compressed breathing apparatus cylinders on their backs.
Durango Police Chief Brice Current was among law enforcement waiting at the top of the steps for men and women to complete their laps. As crew members surfaced at the top of the steps, muscles sweaty and shining, he high-fived and congratulated them.
Upper Pine River Fire Protection District Deputy Chief Greg French said he remembers being “totally stunned” when they saw the news of the 9/11 attacks on a television at the City of Las Vegas Fire Department.
Some firefighters were rearing to get in their trucks and head to New York City to help their brothers and sisters, he said. But he remembers supervisors encouraging members to keep cool and wait for more information to emerge.
The first call for service French responded to after the attacks was a medical call, he said. He and the crew were still in a state of shock. But they piled into their vehicle, the ordnance bay doors went up, “and it's just like, ‘boys, we got a job to do. We need to do our job right now,’” he said.
“It was tough,” he added.
But the 9/11 climb reinforces camaraderie among crews and departments.
“We all have that common bond. We're going to be the ones going in when everybody's going out,” he said.
Upper Pine board president Jeff Dyar, approaching 70 years of age, said he knows his limitations and declined to tackle the climb this year, although he’s done it once before. But the real point of the climb is, “We’re not going to forget,” he said.
9/11 was a seminal event in the history of fire service, he said. It would be difficult for him to forget, given he was there.
Dyar, speaking with a slight rasp, said he was working at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland, when the twin towers fell. When he heard the news, he traveled to New York City and spent about a month there working.
He said he was never told about the risks that come with a career in firefighting. Since his time in New York City following 9/11, he’s received treatment for physical injuries and stress. He attributes his scratchy or “gravelly” voice to that work.
Before the climb started, Upper Pine and DFPD Capts. Mark Fleming and Bro Burns asked for a show of hands of who was born after 9/11 occurred. Many hands shot up.
Dyar said tragedies like 9/11 are important to remember. Not just for heroic acts of the moment, but for losses suffered in the aftermath.
“We killed a lot of people. We injured many, many after the event because of the problems with protecting them and all the exposures,” he said. “That's also one of my interests now, is talking to these young firefighters about the career. You will be physically injured and mentally injured doing this job.”
Dyar said firefighters historically haven’t admitted to the perils they face. The first step in bringing in new firefighters is to drive home firefighting is a dangerous occupation.
The job is hard on one’s body, mind, family and relationship, he said. After a career of 53 years, helping other first responders work through career and health issue is his new calling. He’s just happy to be giving back.
Fleming said he and Burns started the climb in 2017 and have continued it every year since.
The climb started organically, he said. Fleming and a few others decided to pay homage to 9/11 first responders by doing the climb on the 16th anniversary. When they arrived at the Sky Steps, they found Durango firefighters had the same idea.
Since then, the climb has had “amazing” turnout, with families and children, law enforcement and fire departments, and Ground Zero survivors all gathered for the same cause in the same place.
Fleming himself is a legacy fireman. His father was in the fire service for 47 years. The climb makes Fleming think about what if his dad was working for New York City Fire Department on 9/11.
“I empathize with that as being a son, but then now I'm also a father myself, and empathize with all those firefighters (who) kissed their kids goodbye that day, and they were expecting to be home after their shift,” he said.
He said he contemplates what went through firefighters’ minds as they climbed the twin towers’ stairs, with groups of people rushing down the stairs in the opposite direction.
“In the back of all of our heads, we know that there's that potential to pay the ultimate sacrifice,” he said.
cburney@durangoherald.com
