CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – The atrium at the Fontaine fire station is open for quiet reflection today, and what they’re calling “a solemn tribute to the victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Albemarle County Fire Rescue and the Charlottesville Fire Department will join together in a stair climb event Saturday to honor and remember those who lost their lives”. The public is invited to join career and volunteer firefighters from both departments Saturday morning at 8 at John Paul Jones Arena for the stair climb event.

“The stair climb serves as a living memorial to the 343 firefighters who lost their lives on September 11,” said Dan Eggleston, Chief of Albemarle County Fire Rescue. “It’s a way for us, as a community, to come together in their honor and ensure that their sacrifice continues to be remembered.”

“The Charlottesville Fire Department honors the sacrifices of those who fell on September 11, 2001. Each step we take on the 11th is a tribute to the courage of those who acted without hesitation that day. We carry their memory upward, step by step, in recognition of their sacrifice, bravery, and service,” said Michael Thomas, Chief of the Charlottesville Fire Department.

Throughout the morning, significant time points from that day in 2001 will be recognized with moments of silence. Each year, stair climb events are held across the country to honor and pay respect to the 343 firefighters who lost their lives on 9/11. These events are memorials to the trek those first responders made into and up the World Trade Center buildings. Participants will climb the equivalent of 110 stories, or 2,200 steps, often in full firefighting gear. It is not a race or timed event.

For today, the atrium at Charlottesville Fire Station 10 is open for remembrance. It’s an atrium that includes memorabilia from September 11, 2001 which was acquired by former Battalion Chief David Hartman and former city Fire Chief Charles Werner.

Werner said Hartman went on a mission “to have remembrance items from all three locations”.

“So, we’re one of the few places that has a 17-foot piece of steel from the North Tower which is marked FDNY on four separate locations. That marking meant that a firefighter was located in proximity to that steel. That was part of the 9/11 steel program.”

Werner told WINA’s Morning News, “But we also were able to acquire a stone from the Pentagon, and we also have a rock from Shanksville, PA. So we have something from all three locations.”

“And we have a photo that was taken 30 seconds after the Flight 93 crash in Shanksville by a young lady who was there. If you remember, she took the picture and it was called ‘The End of Serenity’,” Werner said.

“She was going out to take a picture of her Mustang, had the camera of her neck, and the plane hit the ground, and she captured smoke coming up from the ground immediately following.”

The things Werner said need to continue to be remembered, “Well I think the first thing is the loss of all the people that were lost that day…. firefighters, police officers, civilians, altogether.”

“But to me what’s most important was while we were attacked, and it was a tremendous tragedy, was the unity that followed,” Werner said.

“It was a message of saying ‘you can attack us, but you can’t defeat us.”

“And you can’t defeat us because we’re together, we have faith, and we came together stronger,” Werner continued.

“I mean American flags were everywhere, and it was that unity of saying ‘we stand strong together’.”

Werner said that atrium is part of wanting to make sure we carry that message forward “that people always never forget, remember those lost and sacrifices made, and how we overcame it”.