We’ve become desensitized to stories about 9/11. We all seemingly know what the members of the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) endured that day 23 years ago. We know that 121 fire engines, 62 ladder companies and 100 ambulances converged on the World Trade Center after al-Qaeda terrorists flew planes into first the North Tower at 8:46 a.m. and then the South Tower at 9:03 a.m.
We know that 23 battalion chiefs arrived at the Twin Towers and only 4 went home and that 750 firefighters were dispatched and that 343 never came back. We know the firefighters came to recognize the incomprehensible sound of human beings impacting the ground.
Faced with being burned alive, people chose to jump to their deaths, and in fact, the first firefighter to die on 9/11 was hit by a falling body. The sound became a siren’s call to the firefighters to ascend. The rescued owe their lives to men who saw and heard a nightmare around them and only thought to free their people. They attempted to climb the height of the building, 110 flights, 2,200 stairs, in full gear, into the smoke and fire. They reached the 78th floor.
That act by New York City’s firefighters on behalf of their fellow citizens is what the 2024 Fayetteville 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb is all about. Each climber carries the name and picture of a firefighter who died in the attacks. This year’s event will be held on Saturday, Sept. 14 at Segra Stadium, 460 Hay St.
The climb starts at 8:46 a.m., the exact moment the North Tower was struck. The public is welcome to participate; registration costs $30 and proceeds benefit the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF). You’re encouraged to register online prior to Sept. 10 or to sign up onsite the day of the event starting at 6:30 a.m.
Firefighters know there are health concerns associated with wearing turnout gear. That said, young people born after 2001 only have two-dimensional screen images to help them understand what New York City firefighters, police and port authority personnel endured during a terrorist attack with fellow Americans trapped by fire above them. Seeing today’s firefighters wearing the same gear and carrying the same equipment is an in-person, real-world display of risk and self-sacrifice in honor of the fallen. It doesn’t go unnoticed.
Today, more firefighters have died from known cancers associated with the fallout of 9/11 than died in the attacks. The number is now north of 350, according to Regina Livingston, NFFF development program manager. Research shows firefighters are 9 percent more likely to be diagnosed with certain cancers than the average American and they are 14 percent more likely to succumb to those illnesses.
In addition to myocardial infarction within 24 hours of duty, those cancers are: mesothelioma, testicular, intestinal and esophageal. The firefighting community has been aware of this for 15 years, but only slowly has it come to the fore of the public’s consciousness. Here at home, the most recent line-of-duty death within the Fayetteville Fire Department (FFD) was Chief John Bowen from colon cancer. He was 35. Over the course of the FFD’s history, it has lost five firefighters in line-of-duty deaths.
FFD Captain Stephen M. Shakeshaft has “Sola Fide” tattooed inside his right forearm; on his left is “Sola Christus.” From the Latin, they translate as “through faith alone” and “through Christ alone.” They are two of the Five Solas of the Protestant Reformation, the 16th-century Christian movement that sought to bring the Catholic Church back to basics. (The other three are “Sola Scriptura,” the bible is the sole authority for Christians; “Sola Gratia,” we receive salvation solely through God’s grace; and “Soli Deo Gloria,” we live our lives to glorify God alone).
On his left forearm is a cross in color with a red-headed fireman’s axe ensconced within the wood of the cross. He’ll tell you that there’s no more intense rush than running into a burning building, but over time, he has come to realize he was encountering people on the worst day of their lives and that it was a privilege and gift he’d been given to help them. His perspective changed; the adrenalin addictiveness turned into a heart of service to those he encountered throughout his duty.
Brave The Fire is the FFD climb team and the department appreciates the community’s support and participation.
The first-responder community and the military have always maintained close ties. Sure, there is good-natured ribbing, but mutual respect predominates between our armed forces, law enforcement, firefighters and paramedics. This is why the military turns out in force to support their firefighting brethren.
Many of the men who died on 9/11 also served in the military. One firefighter who had served in the Marine Corps 35 years prior to 9/11 heard the cadence “one, two, three, four; I love the Marine Corps” in his head as he ascended the stairs. It got him through; he survived.
FDNY Chief of Department Peter J. Ganci, Jr. served in the 82nd Airborne Division.
When the North Tower collapsed, he did not survive. The Fayetteville Stair Climb has numerous military teams set up. You are encouraged to register with a team or as an individual to help explain to the next generation what happened on 9/11 and over the ensuing 20-year Global War on Terror.
The NFFF Stairs Climb Program began in 2005 as a training exercise in Denver, Colo. Because of 9/11, there was interest in learning about high-rise firefighting. As the anniversary approached, the organizers decided they would make the exercise equivalent to the 110 flights the 9/11 firefighters attempted to brave.
In a few years, other Colorado department heads inquired about conducting their own climbs and then firefighters out of state made contact. The organizers approached the NFFF and a partnership was born whereby events across the country would benefit the work of the NFFF. The organization’s “mission is to honor America's fallen fire heroes; support their families, colleagues and organizations; and work to reduce preventable firefighter death and injury.”
For more information, or to register for the event, visit https://nfff.akaraisin.com/ui/fayetteville24/about

(Photo: Firefighters, Police Officers, EMS professionals, soldiers and civilians took over 2100 steps to honor those who lost their lives in the World Trade Center and those who continue to live with 9/11 related illnesses during the 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb in 2023. More than 500 people participated in the climb.)