Firefighters set for 9/11 anniversary challenge in US

A group of firefighters from Shropshire are preparing to travel to the United States to take part in a memorial stair climb marking the 25th anniversary of 9/11.

The five-strong team will join 343 firefighters from across the UK and Ireland in Atlanta, Georgia, to honour the 343 New York firefighters who died responding to the attacks on 11 September 2001.

Kat Frost, Stuart Hughes, Andrew Bradbury, Simon Roberts and Luke Alexander will represent Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service at the event.

Ahead of the trip, the group completed a 24-hour stair climbing challenge at Anytime Fitness gym in Telford over the weekend to raise money for three charities.

The challenge in Atlanta would see each firefighters climb 110 floors, equivalent to the height of the World Trade Centre.

The group said the memorial climb would be an emotional experience, with each firefighter carrying the name and photograph of one of the people who died.

"When we go out there, when we actually do the climb on the Saturday morning, we're all going to be wearing a lanyard representing a firefighter who died in the attacks," Frost said.

"As we're doing our climb, we're not only doing it to raise money for these fantastic charities, we're doing it to remember those people."

So far, the group have raised more than £1,000 towards the Fire Fighters Charity, the Terry Farrell Firefighters Fund and the Blue Light Card Foundation.

Frost said the challenge had brought the team together ahead of the commemorative event.

"It was a really good night of teamwork," she said. "We were really well supported whilst we were doing it.

"There were people that we'd never met before coming and putting money in the bucket and chatting to us.

"It just shows how well we can be supported."

Fellow firefighter Simon Roberts said the lanyard tribute would make the tragedy feel even more personal.

"We don't know the individuals, we've never met them, but actually seeing the picture of them, plus their name, will be quite a strong attachment to that individual," he said.

"When you've got that lanyard, theoretically that person is always walking with you, aren't they? That will be quite a strong feeling I think."

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