CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – One day after the 25th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, firefighters from Charlottesville and Albemarle County were joined by community members at John Paul Jones Arena for a stair climb to honor the 343 New York firefighters who lost their lives during and in the aftermath of the tragedy.

The event, in its fifth year, saw participants climb from the basketball court up to the top row of the arena’s stands 15 times, equalling the 110 floors worth of stairs in each of the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

Some participating firefighters even did the climb with their full gear on, as the firefighters responding to the towers did on that day.

“The stair climb is tough,” Albemarle firefighter and event organizer Suzanne Herndon told the media. “It’s 110 floors, which seems daunting and it’s even more daunting when you start the climb.

“And the important thing is that when you climb and it gets tough, through every step, you remember why you’re climbing.”

The climb began at 8:50 a.m., when the first firefighter arrived on the scene, four minutes after American Airlines Flight 11 hit the North Tower at 8:46 a.m.

Before the climb, at 8:46 a.m., the first of multiple moments of silence done throughout the event to signify significant times during the tragedy was held.

As they climbed, participants carried photos of firefighters who had died either on the day itself or in its aftermath due to diseases caused by being on the scene. Once each participant completed the climb, they rang a bell and said the name of each of the firefighters they carried.

“These heroes, they ran into the building not knowing if they were going to come out,” Herndon said. “And so to pass that down, and that memory, and to continue remember the heroes that died that day, and the survivors too, that are still heroes, that’s it’s so important. We never, ever want to forget.”

Charlottesville firefighter medic Leland Bell did the climb for the first time this year, and told the media he was there to “support my brothers and sisters in the fire service.”

When reflecting on the stories of heroism that day, Bell said it’s the can-do spirit of the firefighters that day that stands out to him.

“It’s a cliche to say we run towards stuff when other people run away, but it’s the truth,” he said. “They made the ultimate sacrifice that day without a second thought.”

Even 25 years later, the tragedy still hits close to home for many, including a few in attendance at Saturday’s event. One participant asked before the climb started who had picked up the picture of one of her family members, and retired Albemarle County Fire Rescue chief Dan Eggleston, who spoke before the climb, shared his experiences leading a team of firefighters to ground zero in the days after the attack.

“What I remember most is not only that destruction and the challenging working conditions. It was the people,” he said. “The firefighters, police officers, construction workers, military personnel and ordinary citizens all asked the same question, ‘What can I do to help?’ And then we went to work.”