First-ever area stair climb in Beaumont on Sept. 10

Firefighters and other first responders will gather in downtown Beaumont for the first-ever stair climb in Southeast Texas. A local fire department is putting together the event to benefit a national group.

Jessica Garza, a firefighter with Lumberton Fire and EMS (Hardin County ESC No. 2), said the first-ever HCESD2 Memorial Stair Climb is Saturday, Sept. 10, at the Edison Plaza in downtown Beaumont.

Participants will climb 110 flights or 2,201 steps in honor of the Fallen 343 — the number of firefighters from the New York City Fire Department who died while responding to the attack on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

“I am excited about the event,” stated the 34-year-old firefighter. “It’s the first ever of its kind in this area. We don’t have anything like that here, so we’ve had to travel to San Antonio or Dallas.”

She said the Sept. 10 event is the second in the state where the proceeds will benefit the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) which honors and remembers America’s fallen fire heroes and provides resources to assist their families in rebuilding their lives. NFFF also works within the fire service community to reduce firefighter deaths and injuries.

Garza noted a percentage of the proceeds will go to the Spindletop F.O.O.L.S. (Fraternal Order Of Leatherheads Society), a local organization that brings state-of-the-art training and instruction to Southeast Texas firefighters whether they are paid, volunteer, municipal or industrial. They are also holding a drawing for three firearms at the event.

At 8 a.m., the opening ceremony will kick off the stair climb, along with a keynote speaker and chaplain.

“After that, we’ll start climbing the 110 flights,” Garza said. “They can climb it individually or collectively as a team to climb the 110 flights. With a five-person team, each member would climb 22 flights. They can do it in their bunker gear or however they want to.”

She noted there will be a doctors’ station and emergency medical personnel on standby if needed.

Garza added not only is the stair climb a tribute, but it’s also a community event. There will be an apparatus “show and tell” and the fire museum will be reserved for tours.

“We’ll also have community activities such as face painting, snow cones and kids’ activities,” she added.

Garza said Valero will provide food for the participants and the public, and Crockett Street will be closed for vendors.

“That’s basically for networking and helping everybody out,” said Garza. “The main thing is to get the ‘brotherhood back tight’ for us to be able to engage the community for them to engage with first responders.”

She said the event is a “stair step” for what the department wants to do in the future. “We do have other community events such as for cancer awareness and cancer prevention in the industry.”

Garza said Assistant Chief of EMS Jim Jones approached her about the idea of the stair climb.

For the past five years, Jones says, he’s been working on cancer programs to cover firefighters and medics in the state who are “grossly underserved in that arena.”

“While pursuing that, I came across an article about all the first responders at the Twin Towers that died over the years from cancer,” he said. “I was aware of the memorial stair climbs elsewhere, like in Dallas and in other states, and it occurred to me we haven’t had one here. I said, ‘Why don’t we have one here.’”

Garza and Jones, along with others, started planning for the event in March.

“I have an absolutely amazing team here that is helping us push this project to a reality,” said Jones. “They’re younger than me in the industry. They are accomplishing things, and they are really the superstars.”

Jones, who has Stage 4 lymphatic cancer, said he continues to workout and run, and plans to participate in the event and “keep up with some of the kids.”

He noted cancer is the leading cause of death among firefighters.

Garza said in planning an event like this, it’s typically a yearlong process.

“But it has been a learning process for us,” she remarked. “We did everything the hard way in the beginning then we realized we can get help with this. We want to be able for us to use this as a building block. After this, we’ll gear up for other events.”

According to Garza, a number of area fire departments including Bridge City, Beaumont, Port Arthur and others, have expressed interest in participating in the stair climb. Also, fire crews from the local oil and gas refineries have shown interest.

“We have fire departments as far away as El Campo and DeQuincy, La., who are interested in participating,” she added. “It’s for career firefighters, volunteer firefighters, police officers and emergency medical personnel. It’s for all first responders.”

Jones said he wants to honor the 343 firefighters and 62 police officers who died at the Twin Towers.

“That is the original purpose of the climb, but I also want us to build a future for our next generation,” he said. “Projects like this are critical to helping build, not just a memorial, but build a future for those folks.”

Garza, 34, who started with Bridge City Fire and Rescue, has been with Lumberton Fire and EMS for about a year and a half. She completed the Fire Academy in 2019.

Jones retired from the Beaumont Fire Department and has been with Lumberton Fire and Rescue for seven years.

For more information, visit www.HCESD2memorialclimb.com or on Facebook at HCESD2Memorialclimb.