The Rock Community Fire Protection District held a 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb to honor the New York firefighters who died as a result of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
Similar stair climbs are held across the nation around Sept. 11, and the event for the St. Louis area typically is held in Clayton, but it was called off because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a virtual event was held instead.
However, organizers of that event encouraged others to hold their own small stair climbs if they could.
A team of Rock Community firefighters decided they would continue the tradition at Jefferson College’s Arnold campus.
Scott Argurieo, a Rock Community firefighter/paramedic, said he and his fellow firefighters felt is was important to honor the memory of the 343 New York firefighters who lost their lives trying to save others during the terrorist attack.
Argurieo, 24, of Dittmer said he and seven other Rock Community firefighters took part, climbing up and down the stairs inside the Arnold college building, which symbolized the climb firefighters faced in the 110-story World Trade Center on that terrible day.
“We started in the lobby of the first floor of the Arnold campus,” Argurieo said. “We’d walk two flights up. We’d then walk across the top floor and down the other steps. One evolution would count as two flights. We did 55 flights for the height of the tower.
“Including breaks, it took over 2 1/2 hours. It was a pretty good workout. We had our turnout gear on.”
Argurieo said he and the Rock firefighters were glad to make the effort. “It was a good moment to reflect,” he said.
Several Jefferson College employees were on hand to witness the stair climb, including Holly Lincoln, the Arnold campus director, who said it was a moving event.
“The firefighters listened to transmissions from 9/11 as they walked, so it was a very somber moment,” she said. “It was a quiet building, with only 9/11 calls playing and footsteps.”
Argurieo said the firefighters collected $610 in donations at the event.
“It goes to both the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and Supporting Heroes organizations,” he said.