Elkhart firefighter honors 9/11 heroes with memorial climb at Beacon Health & Fitness

Nick Hintz, chief of skills and proficiencies at the Elkhart Fire Department, climbed 128 flights of stairs early this morning at Beacon Health & Fitness Granger. This marks the 11th year the club member has completed this memorial climb in full firefighter gear to honor those who lost their lives on 9/11.

“The first 20 minutes were good, but the last four minutes were tough. I can only imagine with another 100 pounds of gear on me, and tools, what they were thinking when they were climbing,” Nick said.

In the tight stairwells at the World Trade Center, firefighters would have faced the challenge of making room for civilians to come down as they were headed up.

But they headed up with optimism. Just like firefighters do.

“They thought they were going to put that fire out,” Nick said solemnly. “Today is about remembrance. It also lets the community know what firemen are willing to do: We run in when everyone else runs away.”

Here’s our interview with Nick following his memorial climb.