Better Every Shift’s Lt. Aaron Zamzow speaks with Oren Bersagel-Briese, deputy chief of operations with Castle Rock Fire and Rescue in Colorado, about the meaning of the 9/11 Memorial Stair Climbs and the responsibility firefighters share to preserve the stories of Sept. 11.
Bersagel-Briese — one of the founders of the Denver 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb and a member of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation 9/11 Stair Climb Steering Committee — recounts how the movement began with five Colorado firefighters climbing 110 stories on Sept. 11, 2005. That informal gathering grew into a national program that now draws roughly 20,000 participants annually.
Bersagel-Briese emphasizes that the climbs are meant to be acts of remembrance that require participants to give something of themselves. Climbing 110 stories creates a physical and mental connection to the firefighters who ascended the World Trade Center towers to help others. The difficulty is intentional, but completing every step is not the measure of participation.
“This is about the remembrance,” Bersagel-Briese explains. “This isn’t even about completing the climb if you’re unable to do so. It’s about being there. It’s about being part of it.”
That message is particularly important as more firefighters enter the service without firsthand memories of Sept. 11, 2001. Bersagel-Briese notes that remembrance now also requires education — explaining what happened, preserving individual names and stories and recognizing that the health consequences of the attacks continue. Firefighters and others exposed to the World Trade Center site are still living with and dying from 9/11-related cancers and illnesses.
For organizers, some of the most meaningful responses come from families who learn that someone carried their loved one’s name during a climb. Those families’ gratitude reinforces the program’s central purpose: ensuring that the people affected by Sept. 11 are remembered as individuals, not simply as part of a historical event.
Bersagel-Briese encourages firefighters to find a local climb and participate, even if they are uncertain whether they can complete it. The events are held throughout the year, and preparation for a climb can also provide a goal for improving physical fitness. He also urges firefighters to support the organizers and participants whose work sustains the program in communities across the country.
The movement, he stresses, does not belong only to its founders. Its future depends on each person willing to climb, volunteer, organize an event or carry another person’s story forward.
