Local Firefighters Climb Height of Twin Towers on 9/11

DULUTH, Minn.– At 8:46 AM in 2001, the first plane hit the North Tower, and firefighters climbed 94 flights to try and reach those who needed rescuing in the towers. On Saturday morning in Duluth at 8:46 AM, 94 flights were also climbed at AMSOIL arena.

“It really is important and I was proud as I looked around the bowl and saw firefighters from the area, but primarily our Duluth firefighters just keep on going up and down, up and down, up and down,” Shawn Krizaj, Duluth Fire Chief, said.

With around 15 firefighters participating in the stair climb this year, he event has grown every year, and has taken on more departments along the way.

“It really shows the camaraderie and the family, we talk about firefighters being a family and not just here in Duluth, but regionally, and through the country,” Krizaj said.

Family did play a role in the event, where a father and son shared this experience Saturday morning and climbed together.

“It makes me feel proud to be a part of the fire service and then really proud today to be out here doing this with my son and seeing the next generation of firefighters moving forward,” Ben Johnson, a Duluth Firefighter said.

Isaiah Johnson, his son, is currently in the Lake Superior College Fire Science program, and intends to follow his fathers footsteps working for the Duluth Fire Department.

“I grew up around the entire fire service in Duluth and I grew up with the guys who worked their way up and I saw how they progressed, and my dad and they just all inspired me to become a firefighter,” Isaiah Johnson said.

The Johnson’s say climbing to honor those heroes from 20 years ago was even more emotional doing it together, “it’s not a common thing to be able to do something that means this much for the fire service, to do it with your dad and honor all of those who went before us in 9/11,” Isaiah said.

And the firefighters say after making the long, tough climb, they gained a whole new perspective.

“The amount of work it took just to try to even make it up as far as they made it in the towers, and the bravery that it must’ve taken to go in there doing what they knew they were going to go do,” Ben Johnson said.

Chief Krizaj also talked about his perspective saying, “for us as firefighters it helps us putting ourselves in their shoes walking 94 stories in gear with an air pack, it gives us time to reflect on what’s important to us. I think about my family, my wife, my daughters, but the men and women of the Duluth Fire Department, they still do this every day”.

This was the 3rd annual stair climb which had a larger turnout than previous years, but the departments look to continue growing it, and remembering those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in 2001, and those who continue to give it every day.