Members of the Poplar Bluff Fire Department have participated in the Clayton 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb for several years now — but this year’s event has special meaning because it is the 20th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
“This event is one that we are always looking forward to,” said PBFD firefighter Eric Mierisch. “We all make arrangements to make sure we can attend. It’s not an easy task, but it’s well worth it. It’s very humbling to say the least. It is sometimes hard to believe that they climbed all those stairs before the real work even started.
“With this year being the 20th anniversary, it makes it that much more special. Unfortunately, it seems like a lot of people have forgotten about what happened that day. I know a lot of people that said 20 years ago that they would never forget, but our small group will never forget.”
Joining Mierisch and his wife Jessica on this year’s PBFD team at the stair climb is PBFD Captain Roy Lane and his wife, Theresa, plus his two sisters, Michelle Bratton and Tracy Lane, and PBFD firefighter Austin Armes.
“The Clayton 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb is held each year to honor the 343-plus FDNY firefighters, 71 police officers, and the eight EMS workers lost on 9/11,” Lane said. “Every climber is asked to raise money that goes to benefit the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and Supporting Heroes.
“Poplar Bluff has been very lucky to not have a line of duty death. Just in the last few years, we have got very close with one police officer being shot and with our past fire chief (Ralph Stucker) almost passing from an injury that he received on a call.”
Lane said on the day of the climb, each climber is given a tag with the name, station and engine number of one of the first responders that gave his or her life on 9/11. That tag is on a lanyard around the climber’s neck.
“All the firefighters that do the climb are in full gear and some carry a tool (like an) axe or halligan,” Lane said. “We climb 110 stories, the same height as the (WTC) towers. The year before last, we also had a few police officers from St. Louis and a police dog do the climb.”
Mierisch echoed Lane’s sentiments.
“Every year, we don all of our firefighting gear — including our air packs — and grab a hand tool to carry as well,” Mierisch said. “We try to get as close to what the FDNY would have been in as possible. Once we are geared up, we start our journey up the 110 stories that those men and women climbed 20 years ago.”
The climb was started by Clayton Fire Department Battalion Chief Jason Hildebrandt, who is originally from Poplar Bluff. Lane and PBFD firefighter Jeremy Downing were the first PBFD participants in the event in 2012.
“It is hard to believe that it’s been 20 years (since 9/11),” Lane said. “We always say ‘never forget,’ and I haven’t.”