By JESSA PEASE / Staff Writer

MONTGOMERY— To remember and honor the firefighters who died Sept. 11, 2001, eight Pelham firefighters and their families climbed the stairs of the RSA Tower in Montgomery Sept. 13.

“To me, it gives me a sense of pride that I’m doing something to honor them,” said Station No. 2 Lt. Everett Hazen.

Hazen said about 25 people from Pelham were there to participate in this year’s memorial climb. Clad in their gear, the firefighters climbed 22 flights of stairs five times to equal the 110 floors of the World Trade Center.

Before the team left for Montgomery, each member of the Pelham Fire Department signed a high-rise pack hose, which is used to extinguish fires in high-rise buildings. The men took turns carrying the hose up and down the stairs at the RSA Tower.

Hazen said it was hard climbing those stairs over and over again, but it was easy to remember why they were doing it.

“I told them ‘Just imagine what those guys were going through,’” Hazen said. “To whatever point they got up to, they were just physically exhausted. They couldn’t even brace themselves (for the impact of the towers falling) because they were so exhausted.’”

Each person who participates in the climb is given a card with the information and photograph of a firefighter who died on Sept. 11, 2001 to wear around their neck as they climb, and they also receive a commemorative coin.

For Hazen, who was born and raised in New York City, the memorial stair climb is personal. He said Sept. 11, 2001 is what pushed him to become a firefighter. Previously, he wanted to become one, but didn’t think he could do it. After the events at the World Trade Center, he signed up.

“That situation has really helped the firefighters in the public eye in the last decade and a half,” Hazen said. “I just do it to honor them and show them that respect. It’s a very good cause.”

Hazen, Captain Ricky King and two other responders in Pelham have been participating in the event for the past four years, every year since Alabama started the climb. He said his goal is to participate 10 years in a row and display each of the commemorative coins with the photographs he was given.