A small laminated card and a name.
Its weight is non-existent next to the thick firefighting gear and heavy air packs resting on the backs of firefighters prepared to make a 110-story climb. It is what that name represents that gives it its weight.
The life of a fallen brother.
On Sunday, seven members of the New Ipswich Fire Department, dressed in their gear, climbed up 110 flights of stairs – the same height as the Twin Towers – in remembrance of the 343 firefighters who lost their life as a result of the Sept. 11 attacks.
“Once you cross that line, and become a firefighter, you become brothers to one another,” said firefighter Gordon Wayrynen of New Ipswich. “To think, that in this tragedy, it could have been any of us. I did this for my fallen brothers and sisters.”
The stair climb, currently in its sixth year, has firefighters climb up the 20-story Brady Sullivan Center five and a half times.
For New Ipswich Fire Chief Meredith Lund, it was her second time making the climb. But this year, she was joined by a team of four other New Ipswich firefighters and two teenaged fire Explorers, all of whom were making the trip up the stairs for the first time.
It was a profound experience.
“It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime things,” said Matt Hatcher of New Ipswich. “You can definitely feel the emotion in that place.”
This year, the stair-climb had its largest participation yet, with over 400 climbers.
“It’s pretty amazing to see that the stair climb is getting larger, not smaller,” she said. “It shows people still remember.”
The New Ipswich Fire Department raised $715 for the stair climb, which all together raised over $26,000.
The funds benefit the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.