HFD

On Saturday, Sept. 10, a team of seven City of Hays firefighters participated in the Wichita 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb. The 9/11 Stair Climb honors the 343 New York City firefighters who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center.

Held in the 22-story Epic Center, 343 firefighters climbed the stairs five times to equal the 110 stories of the WTC Twin Towers. The firefighters climbed wearing full firefighting gear and carrying hose and tools to replicate the climb of the NYC firefighters on that fateful day. Each participating firefighter is assigned to climb for a specific NYC firefighter killed in the attack. For more information on the Wichita 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb, click HERE.

The City of Hays firefighters who participated included Captain Kirk Klein, Firefighter Brandon Zimmerman, Firefighter Tim Detrixhe, Firefighter Brandon Woods, Firefighter Greg May, Firefighter Allison Friesen and Firefighter Justin Choitz. Firefighter Detrixhe organized the Hays firefighters’ participation in this event. This is the second year Choitz and Detrixhe completed the Wichita Memorial climb.

On Sunday, Sept. 11, Choitz completed the 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb in Denver. This is the fourth year that he has participated in this memorial as one of the 343 climbing firefighters.