Firefighters with the Strathmore Fire Department paid tribute to first responders who lost their lives during the 9/11 terrorist attacks 23 years ago.
Staff with the department honoured their legacy on Wednesday (Sept. 11) by walking up and down 1,000 stairs at the bleachers of the Strathmore Ag Grounds.
Four members of the unit wore their full gear during the event.
One of those firefighters was Curtis Reid, a full-time captain of the department who has been with the force for over 10 years.
"That was about 40 times to the top of the bleachers," says Reid.
Wearing their equipment and hiking up the stairs was a huge challenge according to Reid.
"Everybody thinks about the weight, but just the fact that that gear is designed to keep us safe from the heat on the outside," added Reid. "But it insulates us pretty well, so you get a pretty good sweat going pretty quickly that way so you're not able to regulate your body temperature as well as if you were wearing a t-shirt."
Reid says 9/11 is a solemn day full of reflection and there have been a lot of great training programs and operations to keep firefighters safe since the tragedy.
"All the lives lost on the day you still feel the echoes of that now. It serves to keep us safe."
Reid told StrathmoreNow the department has done the event for as long as he can remember.
