Firefighter climbs same number of floors as 9/11 first responders

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) - One firefighter is climbing in honor of 9/11′s heroes.

Chris McCoy, a firefighter with the Smiths Grove Volunteer Fire Department, climbed the stairs of the Creason lot parking structure at Western Kentucky University 20 times to symbolize what the firefighters climbed on 9/11. The parking structure is seven stories, and McCoy says it will come out to around 110 floors after the whole journey, the same amount as the firefighters on 9/11.

McCoy typically goes to Nashville’s memorial climb, but it was canceled this year. McCoy decided to make his own. “Some of them didn’t make it out and that’s why we climb because the 343, they can’t climb," says McCoy, as he prepares to make his way up for the first of 20 times.

“It’s going to be difficult, but I got to remember that my brothers at that day, this was very difficult with them because not only were they having to climb the stairs, they had fire on top of them, they had people they had to get out of the building, and they knew they had a very limited amount of time before the building would collapse."

The whole climb took over two hours to complete. MCcoy is hoping he can continue the 9/11 stair climb every year, so Bowling Green has one of its own.

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