Blackwell Fire Dept. participates in 9/11 Memorial Climb

Two members of the Blackwell Fire Department climbed 110 floors for the annual September 11 Memorial Stair Climb, held this year in Kansas City.

Fire Chief Cory Hanebrink and Batallion Chief Justin Kienzle were two of 343 firefighters from Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma who climbed the stairs of the Town Pavillion skyscraper in downtown Kansas City where the event is held annually.

The 343 firefighters each climbed for one of the fallen first responders during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. Each firefighter had an ID badge on signifying the person whose memory they climbed for.

Hanebrink climbed for New York Fire Batallion 50 Chief Lawrence Stack and Kienzle climbed for New York Fire’s Battalion 22 Lieutenant Charles Margiotta.

The firefighters ascended 110 flights of stairs in recognition of the 110 stories of the World Trade Center.

In order to climb 110 floors, the firefighters had to ascend most of the 35-story building’s floors several times. few times of the Town Pavilion stairwell.

While they were allowed to take breaks, the 343 men and women to took part in the climb had to do so in full bunker gear.

In recent years, the Blackwell Fire Department held a local stair climb of their own at the Blackwell High School football field while also taking part in memorial climbs in Kansas City and Oklahoma City.