Local firefighters simulate 110-story stair climb in honor of those lost on 9/11

It’s been 19 years since terrorists high-jacked planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center and Pentagon, killing thousands of civilians and first responders.

To mark the anniversary, local firefighters are raising money and remembering their fallen brothers who died in the Twin Towers that day.

Starting at 8 a.m. Saturday at Planet Fitness, nearly a dozen Poplar Bluff firefighters will be “doing a 110-story stair climb for 9/11,” explained Capt. Roy Lane. Each of the towers was 110 stories tall.

Poplar Bluff Fire Capt. Roy Lane (left) and Firefighter Eric Mierisch use the stair mills at Planet Fitness on Sept. 11, 2019, to honor their fallen brothers as they climbed the 110 stories of the Twin Towers. Photo provided

“We do it in honor of the firefighters and policemen and EMS that died on 9/11, that made the climb (knowing) they probably weren’t going to make it out, but made the climb anyway to try to save lives,” Lane said.

As firefighters, Lane said, the climb is for the 343 plus firefighters who died on 9/11 or have since died from having worked at ground zero.

“We normally do (the climb) in Clayton in St. Louis, but because of COVID, they are having everyone do it virtual,” Lane said.

For their climb, Lane said, Planet Fitness has six stair mills.

“We’ll try to use them all, but one,” Lane said. “We’re going to start at 8 and go until everyone is done.”

Firefighters, he said, will be doing the climb in “full gear,” which weighs between 45 and 70 pounds and holds the heat in.

Lane said he is trying to get some of the local police officers to join the climb.

“At Clayton, we had police and (National) guard also do it,” as well as civilians, including local firefighters’ wives, said Lane, who hasn’t missed a climb since his first one in 2012.

There, he said, they climb 22 stories five times to simulate the 110 stories.

As part of the climb, “we are raising money for Supporting Heroes,” Lane said.

Supporting Heroes provides support to the families of public safety personnel — firefighters, law enforcement and emergency-medical-services — who die in the line of duty.

“We’ve never had to use it yet, but we got close with Chief (Ralph) Stucker’s accident,” Lane said.

Stucker had injured his knee Jan. 13 while attempting to retrieve equipment from the bed of his pickup on a fire scene and had surgery Jan. 30 to reattach the meniscus back to the bone.

On Feb. 13, Stucker was hospitalized after he experienced difficulty breathing and collapsed at his home. It later was discovered he was suffering from a pulmonary embolism that was straddling both lobes of his lungs, obstructing his airways.

Stucker subsequently underwent surgery Feb. 14 to remove the clot. He returned to duty in mid-April.

Lane also cited an incident in which Poplar Bluff Police Detective Corey Mitchell was shot in 2018 while serving a federal arrest warrant.

The bullet, according to earlier reports, struck Mitchell just above his wrist and traveled up his arm approximately six to eight inches. The projectile was sitting under the skin, and it was removed in the emergency room.

“We’ve gotten close, but we’ve been really lucky,” Lane said. “It is nice to know there is such a great organization, Supporting Heroes, to help our families. I hope we never have to use them.”

Anyone who would like to donate, may do so at https://p2p.onecause.com/claytonclimb or by dropping donations off at Planet Fitness on Saturday.