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Firefighters climb Bunker Hill in recognition of 9/11

Doug Leggett

Firefighters in Unalaska donned their gear and hiked up Bunker Hill on Saturday, to honor the firefighters, first responders, and all of the victims who died in the attacks on 9/11, 20 years ago.

Unalaska Fire Chief Patrick Shipp says the mile walk up Bunker Hill lines up to be almost exactly 110 stories — the height of each of the World Trade Center’s twin towers.

“We wanted to emulate 110 flights of stairs at the World Trade Center," Shipp said. "So when one of the firefighters said, ‘Why don't we climb Bunker Hill in bunker gear?’ And man, it just resonated. You know, how could you do anything better?”

Shipp says they were joined by other members of the community, and that around 30 people in total made the climb.

“At the top, we paused took a couple of group pictures of everybody there [and] had a moment of silence just to reflect on the gravity of what we were there for.”

Participants also collected money for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.