(KCEN) -- Taking the stairs took on a deeper meaning this morning in Dallas.
Hundreds of firefighters honored the fallen heroes of 9/11 by climbing the same number of flights New York Firefighters took as they rushed into the Twin Towers.
September 11th, 2001 now, nearly eleven years later, hundreds of firefighters from ninety-four departments and four states are in Dallas to remember.
Touching a piece of steel from the Twin Towers and suiting up remembering their fallen brothers and sisters who rushed into the burning buildings when everyone else was rushing out.
Organizer of the Dallas Memorial Stair Climb John Barrett says, "We have 343 firefighters, each one is climbing for the 343 firefighters lost on September 11th."
They're climbing fifty-five stories at the Renaissance Tower twice representing the 110 flights that crews climbed in the Towers.
"It's very humbling, we're just climbing up there to do 110 stories. They were climbing up there to do some work and do what they've gotta do," says Chris Willits of the Plano Fire Department.
These firefighters are not making this climb alone, each one is carrying a picture of a fallen firefighter, who didn't survive 9/11.
Daniel Pierce of Rowlett Fire Rescue talks about one of the heroes saying, "John Naplitano, he was rescue two FDNY. He was one of the bodies that wasn't found, he was on his way to the 83rd floor to check for fire victims."
Along the way these firefighters paused in the stairwell at 8:59 and 9:28 AM the time each Tower fell.
They're remembering and raising money for the firefighters' survivors.
"They did it because they were called to, that's why we do it," says Pierce.
Organizers raised nearly 54-thousand dollars, that's 16-thousand more than their original goal.
