A group of West Grove Fire Company first responders, family, and friends participated in today's annual Lancaster 9-11 Memorial Stair Climb at Clipper Magazine Stadium.

WGFC firefighters Austin Weir, Ron Weir, Sophia Crossan, Skyler Benasutti, Tyler Gent, Ryan Wood, and Mike Lindsay, along with friends of the fire company Kelly Lindsay, Joey D'Antonio, Joan Lindsay, and Emily Galiardo.

This was the 13th year for the event in Lancaster, with firefighters from Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland and Virginia participating. The Lancaster 9-11 Memorial Stair Climb is not a race. Participants climb the equivalent of 110 stories while carrying a picture badge of one of the fallen FDNY firefighters. Completing the Stair Climb symbolically completes the climb FDNY firefighters tried to do on September 11, 2001. The stair climb attracts several hundred firefighters, emergency responders and family members. Many participants wore their firefighting turnout gear along with self contained breathing tanks, hand tools and American Flags while walking up and down the stairs at the stadium. Adults and children of all ages participated; even several K9s walked beside their handlers while family and friends cheered them on from the stands.

This year, 2023, marks the 22nd anniversary of the attack on our country. On September 11, 2001 343 New York City firefighters died when the World Trade Towers collapsed. The deaths of these men left many families fatherless and many survivors wondering why they were spared. The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation sponsors 9-11 Memorial Stair Climbs across the country to remember the firefighters who laid down their lives that day. Funds raised by the Stair Climbs go to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation to support the Counseling Services Unit of the FDNY and to develop programs to reduce the injury and line of duty deaths.

We thank these dedicated individuals for making the climb today and for honoring the fallen.

For more information, see: https://www.facebook.com/LancasterStairClimb/ and https://lancasterstairclimb.org/