Firefighters, other law enforcement officials and Kentucky locals scaled 1,540 steps during the Lexington Fire Department’s (LFD) annual 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb to honor the firefighters who climbed the World Trade Center.

Over 700 people attended the stair climb at Kroger Field, Lexington, Ky., on Thursday, Sept. 11, to mark 24 years since the attacks on the United States. 

Participants could either walk a single lap around Kroger Field and ring a silver bell or two laps and ring a gold bell.

According to Lt. Chris MacFarlane, LFD recruiting and hiring officer, the event began 13 years ago to help attendees remember those who served on 9/11.

“They knew that wasn’t an accident, yet they still were dispatched. They went on up. They knew what they signed up for. They didn’t know that morning and it was going to happen,” MacFarlane said. “But none of them stopped. They just kept climbing. And so for us, that’s connected to not forgetting.”

Each citizen carried a badge with the name, title and assignment of a firefighter who died on 9/11, according to MacFarlane.

The 343 names symbolized never forgetting their sacrifice, MacFarlane said, ringing the bell at the end of the climb to honor their legacy and complete their story.

“We quit saying their name and their families grow old and pass away, then that name may never get mentioned again,” MacFarlane said. “So part of remembering is saying that name out loud, ringing that bell.”

According to Radcliff Fire Department firefighter Diana Kelly, 9/11 was a “wake-up call” for her to join the military, where she stayed for 22 years before becoming a firefighter.

“September 11 changed my life,” Kelly said. “That day really changed my life, it mapped out where I went.” 

Kelly said she has never felt more “patriotic” than the moment she rang the bell, saying the event brought together people from all over the state, regardless of their societal views.

“We can’t improve our future without concentrating and paying attention to our past and recognizing the impact that it made on us,” Kelly said. “It’s (9/11) one of the moments in our history that brought us together. Unfortunately, it takes problems to bring us together.”

Probationary firefighter Clay Young said he became a firefighter to be part of something “bigger than himself.” 

“I think that this event as a whole embodies that, because it’s not about us, it’s not about this department, other departments,” Young said. “It’s about the sacrifice, the ultimate sacrifice, that those guys made 24 years ago.” 

According to Young, the event meant being there for the families, people and lives that are still affected every day by the events of 9/11, which is what he said he was thinking about as he walked the steps of Kroger Field. 

Young walked with the name Scott Larsen around his neck. Larsen was a firefighter who died on 9/11, and Young said that as he rang the gold bell, he thought of Larsen’s family and hoped he honored his legacy through completing the climb. 

“When I rang the bell, I rang it as hard as I could and I got a tad bit emotional,” Young said. “I was just honestly thinking about the families and lives that are still affected and touched to this day.”