Austin Fire crews honor those lost on 9/11
AUSTIN (KXAN) – Crews with the Austin Fire Department Monday will honor firefighters who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.
A total of 343 firefighters from the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) died on that day in the terror attacks at the World Trade Center.
To honor their memory, AFD held a service at 7:30 a.m. at the Buford Fire Tower on Lady Bird Lake on Cesar Chavez and Colorado.
At 9:30 a.m., AFD firefighters will climb the Pleasant Valley Drill Tower in full turnout gear, an air pack and a hose bundle. AFD said the firefighters will make the number of up and down flights roughly equaling the height of the World Trade Center.
According to the department, the hour-long climb is done in complete silence. It said the climb is the nation's first and longest-running event of its kind for 9/11.
Austin Fire renamed the 2023 climb the Travis Maher 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb. AFD said it honors Battalion Chief Travis Maher, a 23-year AFD veteran, who served at Ground Zero immediately following 9/11. Maher died in December 2022 from stomach cancer linked to his time in New York.
At noon, the Emergency Services Pipes and Drums Association or ESPADA will perform in the Capitol Rotunda.