For most people, tackling 110 flights of stairs sounds daunting, if not impossible.
But for Weatherford firefighter Jacob Diaz, it is an honor and a privilege.
Diaz, and hundreds of other Metroplex firefighters, joined together in solidarity Sept. 6 at the Comerica Bank Tower in Dallas to climb 110 flights of stairs in full bunker gear in honor of the 343 firefighters who lost their lives on 9/11.
The 110 flights of stairs is the height of the World Trade Center towers, symbolizing the ascent those men and women had to make as they attempted to rescue those trapped inside.
“It’s extremely emotional but very prideful at the same time,” Diaz said of the meaning behind the event. “As long as I am a firefighter and the Lord lets me, I’ll be doing it.”
This was the second consecutive year Diaz had participated in the event. He tried to do it three years ago, but the available spots filled quickly and he missed out on registration.
“There are only 343 spots and unless you’re on the [website] when it opens, you won’t get a chance,” he said. “But I was ready this year and was lucky to get into the Dallas one.”
The event isn’t timed and Diaz said it can take upwards of three hours or more to complete but that it’s not over “until the last man is done.” At the Comerica Bank Tower, participants climb 49 flights, take the elevator back to the ground floor, climb 12 flights and again take the elevator down before completing the final 49 flights.
“The hardest part is the first 49,” Diaz said. “You just keep thinking that once you do this set, you still have 12 more and then 49 more after that. It’s hard.”
Additionally, there are pictures on each of the floors and the stairwell landings representing those who were lost.
“It’s a mental game and it really makes you understand and appreciate what those guys and gals were going through that day,” Diaz said. “Knowing and seeing those pictures … it gives me purpose. I am doing this for them.”
Prior to starting, firefighters are also given the name of someone to climb for or can request someone. His first year, Diaz didn’t have anyone in mind and was assigned Leonard Ragaglia, a firefighter from Engine Co. 54 in Manhattan. It wasn’t until after his climb the first year that he learned there was a local connection to Ragaglia.
“I posted pictures on social media and shared my experience from the day and one of my ex-lieutenants saw it and reached out to ask me if I was assigned or picked Ragaglia,” Diaz said. “I told him he was assigned to me and that’s when I found out more.”
Back in 2001, Diaz explained, firefighters and first-responders from all over the country were supporting New York fire departments any way they could. Many held Fill the Boot fundraisers and all the money raised was donated to help offset the many costs associated with families burying their loved ones.
Diaz said his ex-lieutenant and some from that department flew to Ground Zero to give the money in person. While there, they stopped at Engine Co. 54, by chance, and asked what more they could do to help and because there were so many wakes happening, they were asked to go to show their support on behalf of the department. It turns out that family was Ragaglia’s.
“I think this was a God thing,” Diaz said. “The only wake they attended was [his] and then I was assigned him in my first climb. I get chills just thinking about it.”
When this year’s climb came, Diaz said, he “chose Lenny and always will.”
“I choose him now with pride,” he said. “In reading about him, he reminds me a lot of myself, always joking around and having fun.”
Diaz, 31, has been in the Weatherford Fire Department for about six years. He grew up in Lubbock, met his wife at Texas Tech, and then they made their way to North Texas. Diaz’s father was a battalion chief in Haltom City so he decided to give firefighting a chance.
“The rest is history,” he said. “It was the best decision I ever made.”
Diaz himself was an early elementary school student when the towers were struck in 2001. He remembered being in a classroom with a small TV in the corner when the teacher turned on the news coverage.
“I didn’t really have the capacity to understand what was happening but the teacher was clearly upset and explaining what was going on as best she could,” he recalled. “I will never forget that moment.”
All this time later, Diaz said, being a part of something as impactful as the climb makes him more grateful for the career he chose.
“I truly don’t know where I would be without being a firefighter,” he said. “I am blessed.”
By most accounts, the first 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb ever to be held was in 2003 in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. Albuquerque Fire Department Lt. Charles Cogburn scaled a two-story building 55 times wearing full body armor. When he returned home, on the following Sept. 11, he brought the climb to Albuquerque. Departments around the world caught wind and the tradition is now celebrated annually.
Engine 54, NYFD
Firefighter Ragaglia’s Act of Heroism
More Than 400 first responders lost their lives on September 11, 2001. Heroically performing their sworn duty, these firefighters, members of the NYPD and PAPD, and numerous other rescue workers will forever be remembered for their sacrifice.
Letters
Leonard Ragaglia made a mean breakfast. Long ago, his 11 brothers and sisters were swapping chores for a meal of crispy bacon and eggs - sunny side up, with unbroken, dead-center yolks. Later, he fixed his special omelets for Donna, his wife; Anthony and Lennie, his sons; and the other firefighters at Engine Company 54 in Midtown Manhattan. They were vast, wobbly things with bacon, onions, cheese, potatoes and tomatoes, said Maureen Ragaglia, his mother.
His father, Leonard Sr., was a firefighter, and the younger Leonard, 36, had always planned to be one, too. He commuted from Staten Island, where he was surrounded by relatives. Like his siblings, he and his family were constantly in and out of his mother’s house, where he would toss footballs and pitch whiffle balls to his sons and nephews and nieces.
“He was Mr. Mom,” said Linda Taccetta, an older sister. “He wasn’t just a father at work. He was with his sons all the time, took them to all their sports and watched pro games with them.
“He was faithful to the teams he liked,” Mrs. Taccetta said. “The Mets. The Dallas Cowboys. The Islanders. I’d tell him, ‘You’re true to the wrong teams.’ Even when we were little, he was that way.
He’d argue about who was better - King Kong or Godzilla. And he’d pick Godzilla.”
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