Though the evening is solemn, country music, light conversation and children playing fill the air, punctuated by the huffing and puffing of firefighters from across Montezuma County.
On Thursday evening, Sept. 11, families and first responders gathered at the Lewis-Arriola main fire station to honor those who died in the line of duty during the 2001 World Trade Center terrorist attacks.
Participants climbed the equivalent of 110 flights of stairs by repeatedly ascending the Lewis-Arriola training tower – mirroring the number of flights first responders climbed on that historic day more than two decades ago.
The group typically completes about 53 laps, said Lewis-Arriola Volunteer Fire Department Chief George Deavers, who tracked progress with a tally counter as he sweated through his 30th round.
“What we do is just a small remembrance for the sacrifice that they made,” Deavers said.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed during the 9/11 attacks, including 343 firefighters and paramedics and 60 police officers.
Three generations of volunteers have served at the Lewis-Arriola Volunteer Fire Department since its founding in the 1980s, said Doug Muscanell, a longtime volunteer who now sits on the station’s board.
“Their grandfather, their father was on it, now the kids (who) are in their 20s are on there,” Muscanell said.
Many of the volunteer firefighters pacing themselves through the laps that night – most in full gear – were visibly younger. Some may not have been alive when the Twin Towers fell.
This year’s memorial drew first responders from Pleasant View, Cortez, Mancos and Dolores, said Cassie Robinson, an EMS captain and firefighter EMT with the Lewis-Arriola Fire Department.
“It’s an emotional day for the community,” Robinson said. “It’s empowering to see so many different agencies come together to memorialize the people that were lost.”
