Honor climb: Ormond Beach Fire commemorate 25th anniversary of 9/11 attacks

On Friday, Sept. 11, local firefighters climbed 110 flights at Marina Grande on the Halifax condominiums in honor of the victims of 9/11.

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On the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, local firefighters paid tribute to the sacrifice of first responders that day and the victims who lost their lives.

On Friday, Sept. 11, firefighters with the Ormond Beach, DeLand and Putnam County firefighters climbed 110 flights at Marina Grande on the Halifax condominiums. Joined by residents, family members and police officers, a total of 19 firefighters took part in the annual memorial stair climb, which is organized by Ormond Beach Fire Capt. Hunter Ramirez. 

Prior to the climb, Ramirez led a brief ceremony to honor the 2,977 people who died on 9/11. Of the victims, 343 were New York City firefighters and 71 were law enforcement officers.

"Three-thousand people woke up that morning, living their days just like they thought another day was, not knowing that day would be known in history as one of the most horrific terrorist attacks in the country," Ramirez said. 

Climbing 110 flights, he said, is "just a fraction of what we can do to honor them." It's also an opportunity to teach the next generation of firefighters about the impact of 9/11, Ramirez added.

"Right now, we're at a point in the Fire Service where a lot of the people that we're hiring weren't alive when this incident occurred," he said. "It is our job to teach them the importance of this event — that they know the importance of this job. Those firefighters went to shift just like we do every single day. ... They did not know that they were going to lose that many brothers and sisters that day."

 

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