By Wyndi Veigel

Staff Writer

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Climbing 110 flights of stairs is no easy feat, much less when one adds bunker gear, air packs and fire helmets into the mix.

For four Murphy firefighters, the Dallas 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb Saturday, Sept. 9 marked a time of camaraderie, laughter and a time of remembrance for those first responders who died Sept. 11, 2001 in the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center.

Murphy Driver/Engineer Brent Ulch, firefighter Adam Kroviak, firefighter Marc Deuble and firefighter Genero Ocanas are no strangers to participating in the Dallas Stair Climb, as all four have participated in the past.

“I like to climb every year,” Deuble said. “It’s emotional for me to think of what those guys went through on 9/11, climbing upward to attempt to rescue people.”

Embracing the motto, “They climbed so we climb,” the first responders took step after step to climb 55 flights to the top and then returned to the bottom at the Renaissance Tower to do it all over again until 110 floors were climbed, equivalent to the number of flights in the World Trade Center.

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