FireNews.com
Fire News, December 2021/January 2022, Page 29
Training
Fort Lee Trains with Air Care Eagle
Fort Lee Fire and Emergency Services recently trained with the Air Care Eagle medical helicopter team. - Photos courtesy of Fort Lee Fire Emergency Services
7th Annual Tri-Cities 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb
E m e rg e n c y response departments, fitness teams and other participants from all over east Tennessee and southwest Viginia converged on Bristol Motor Speedway to participate in the 7th annual Tri-Cities 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb. The annual stair climb held special meaning this year, with the event date aligned with the 20th anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, DC. The stair climb covered 110 flights, 2200 steps, symbolizing the steps the FDNY firefighters took to scale to the top of the World Trade Center Towers. The day started with Kingsport firefighter and event coordinator Andrew Catron announcing the exact times the two aircraft hit the towers. A recording of the fire department radio traffic continued for the next three hours. Calls could be heard for more resources; engines and trucks responding that they were on the way — the playback echoing throughout the speedway. Many of the firefighters completed the climb in full gear to match the responders’ loads in their ascent of the towers. Law enforcement officers were in full uniform, some with full tacti-
cal vests containing a full equipment loadout Other participants and fitness team members wore weight vests. Parents would carry their children up and down the steep colosseum steps when the little ones became too tired to continue. This year the Tri-Cities event was sold out with 500 registered participants. One of those participants was Greeneville Fire Department’s Patrick Johnston. “It’s a good cause,” Johnston said. “I climb to pay tribute and raise awareness of 9/11.” One of the larger teams in the event was Greeneville’s CrossFit Arcane with 21 climbers, 11 more than last year. “We want to grow the team each year,” Arcane member Priscilla Wampler said, explaining the team climbs to honor and pay tribute to the country’s veterans. To date, the Tri-Cities 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb has raised over $200,000. This year is estimated to be around $35,000, with The Town of Mosheim Fire Department and CrossFit Arcane listed in the top 10 fundraising teams. The money raised goes directly to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. The stair climb fund the programs provided by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation to support the families of local fallen firefighters and the FDNY Counseling Services Unit. - Submitted by Eric Kaltenmark
