Northwest to pay tribute to fallen firefighters, victims of 9/11 during annual stair climb event

Northwest Missouri State University’s Emergency Disaster Management Club, Show-me Gold program and the Maryville Fire Department are partnering to host the annual stair climb honoring the 2,966 lives lost in the events that transpired on 9/11.

The stair climb, which is free and open to the public to participate, will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 11, at Bearcat Stadium. Participants must sign a waiver to participate in the annual stair climb, a 2,071-step challenge that may be divided between groups or individuals.

Before the stair climb begins, the public is invited to a brief ceremony and bell ringing. News footage aired on 9/11 also will be played on the Bearcat Stadium video board.

Maryville Fire Chief and Northwest alumnus Jace Pine believes it is important to remember the lives of firefighters lost that day as well as other victims of the attacks. Local firefighters will participate in the stair climb.

“On that day, from what they saw, from the things they were breathing and the responders that actually came to that incident – there’s a lot of lives that were lost from that, too,” Pine said. “We want to remember those people – not just the firefighters who were there in the towers that passed away.”

Northwest’s Show-Me Gold program also will have firefighter backpacks known as rucksacks available for participants to wear during the stair climb. The organization also will provide free water and sacks to participants.

“The Northwest Show-Me Gold program is contributing to the Northwest 9/11 stair climb by having students participate in the event,” Sgt. 1st Class Jeremy Kramer, a non-commissioned officer in charge of the Show-Me Gold program, said. “These students will wear their full OCP uniforms and carry rucksacks to symbolize the weight firefighters carried during emergencies.”

Additionally, the Memorial Bell Tower, located at the center of the Northwest campus, will chime at 8:46 a.m., 9:03 a.m., 9:37 a.m. and 10:03 a.m., marking the times that each of the four planes crashed on 9/11. 

On Sept. 11, 2001, militants hijacked four airplanes and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States, flying two planes into the World Trade Center’s twin towers in New York City, a third into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and a fourth plane crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. A total of 2,996 people died during the attacks, including 343 firefighters and paramedics, 23 New York City police officers and 37 Port Authority police officers who were attempting to evacuate the buildings and save others who had been injured.