Hundreds of people climbed stairs to honor fallen first responders
TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) – One by one, and step by step, emergency responders, and community members are honoring the courage and sacrifice shown by emergency responders on the morning of September 11, 2001.
“Today is just a small glimpse of what those guys and girls went through that day, so just to give back just a little bit, and just to see what they went through, it is surreal,” said Garner Holcomb, Tupelo Fire Department’s Sargeant.
More than 300 people walked three laps inside of the Cadence Bank arena. This climb, which is equivalent to 110 stories, is the approximate height of the World Trade Center.
“It puts it into perspective of the sacrifice that they gave,” said Melinda Monts, 9/11 stair climb organizer. “They did not back down, they did not say no, they still went to save as many people as they could even after the towers were hit.”
The stair climb included firefighters from New Albany, Nettleton, Ingomar, and Tupelo. Tupelo Fire Chief Brad Robinson said it was great to see several different departments come together and show their support to fallen first responders.
“Seeing this whole event is very heartfelt for us. It definitely hits home. When you lose people within our same community and same family, even if they were in New York, it is still as touching,” said Robinson. “A firefighter death is a firefighter death. These guys here, they would do the same thing as the guys in New York, we run into buildings, so it does not matter if we knew them or did not know them.”
The stair climb was held at the Cadence Bank Arena, and this was the 8th annual 9/11 Memorial stair climb.
The event was free for everyone who participated, and the stair climb organizer Melinda Monts said she hopes to see even more people take part in the event next year.
