- December 4, 2025
The most powerful moment of the 9/11 Memorial Tribute Climb is at the top, event organizer Lacy Martin said.
At the top of the Hammock Beach Golf Resort & Spa's 10-flight staircase, Martin said, is where a bystander will see how much participants struggle with the climb. A lot of the participants are firefighters and first responders, but they still struggle and have to stop and take a breather at the top of the 10 flights.
"Just to think, on 9/11 they didn't get to stop," Martin said. "It is truly powerful up there...I always tell people to go up there, just so they can understand how difficult [it was.]"
Martin has been involved with the stair climb since its inception in 2021 when Flagler County initially ran it. The first stair climb had just 12 participants, she said, and this year they are expecting around 250 people will attempt the climb.
The event commemorates the first responders who died trying to save people stuck in the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center during the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack. Firefighters had to climb 110 flights of stairs to get to the top of the towers.
The fifth annual tribute climb, commemorating the 24th anniversary of will once again be held at the Hammock Beach Golf Resort & Spa on Sept. 11. Registration opens at 7:45 a.m. and the ceremony begins at 8:15 a.m.
At 8:46 a.m. — the same time that the first plane crashed into the North Tower at the World Trade Center — the climb will begin. Participants will climb 10 flights of stairs 11 times to signify the 110 flights of stairs first responders had to climb on 9/11 to rescue people trapped in the Twin Towers.
On Sept. 11, 2001, four terrorists hijacked commercial airplanes. Two of the airplanes were crashed into the World Trade Center's Twin Towers in New York City, which collapsed. Another plane hit the Pentagon while the fourth plane, headed for Washington, D.C., crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.
The attacks killed 2,977 people that day and remains the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil.
First responders rushed to the scene before the towers collapsed in an attempt to rescue people trapped in the two buildings. The firefighters had to climb 110 flights of stairs to get to the top.
When the towers fell, 343 firefighters and 71 police officers died.
Martin said this year the climb will also honor those 71 police officers by including their names on the poker chips participants will carry up the flights of stairs.
Participants receive their poker chips with the name of one of the first responders who died on 9/11 when they register on the morning of the event. Martin said the intent is the climber carry that first responder with them through the 110 flights.
Flagler County Fire Chief Mike Tucker said when he thinks about 9/11, he thinks of all the families whose loved one did not come home.
Tucker has participated in the stair climb every year, as do a several other Flagler County Fire Rescue personnel. He thinks about those broken lives every time he climbs, he said.
"That's what keeps me stepping and doing it, is just remembering them for the sacrifice they paid," he said.
After 40 years as a firefighter, Tucker said there have been a few times where he has gone into a situation and not known if he would come out the other end.
"It goes through your mind," he said. "It's also one of the things you can't stop to think about, because if you stop to think about that, you lose focus on what you need to do."
Palm Coast Fire Chief Kyle Berryhill has not had the opportunity yet to attend the stair climb, as he said he typically attends another 9/11 Memorial ceremony.
Berryhill said he has a tremendous amount of respect for firefighters and the first responders who died on 9/11. What the firefighters did that day was "unbelievable," he said.
"They knew what was going on," Berryhill said. "I believe that there's no greater love than to give up your life for your friends.
Remembering 9/11 is about more than just the tragedy, Martin said. It's about today's first responders, too. At any time an emergency could happen where local first responders could have to jump into action, she said.
"Putting yourself in that moment, its like, wow, like these people put their lives at risk every single day for what? For strangers?" Martin said. "It really is a very powerful tribute, whether it's 9/11 or just the dangers facing first responders every single day."
To be a firefighter is to be committed, Tucker said: there's no halfway. Someone who is only partially committed can't do what needs to be done because they are operating from the defensive, he said, instead of being more proactive.
"You've got to be all in," he said.
Berryhill said what he takes as inspiration from the 9/11 heroes is that he can honor their sacrifice in how he interacts with others.
"So when I'm a good coworker here, when I find a way to do something that's positive in the community, when I'm a good dad or husband, those are all things that I can take as being a part of the way that we can remember the heroes of 911," Berryhill said.
Martin said she's grateful for the support of the Flagler County community who shows up every year to participate and remember. Each year, she said, she's determined do her part in educating the next generations about 9/11 and to do her part to remember those who died.
"It's just very special to me," she said, "and it's the very least I can do to make a difference."
