Firefighters climb Stone Mountain as tribute to 9/11 first responders

Firefighters honored the first responders of Sept. 11 with a trip up Stone Mountain yesterday.

Crew members from across Georgia climbed Stone Mountain dressed in their full gear.

At least 100 firefighters participated in the 1-mile climb, the equivalent of going up 160 flights of stairs.

Organizers called it "a day of personal remembrance for the 343 firefighters and paramedics who lost their lives in the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

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"Those guys walked up flights of stairs with a lot of equipment, with people going past them that said 'do not go up there.' Coweta County Battalion Chief Mark Griffin said. "They did what they had to do. They knew the peril they were going into."

The group of firefighters paused along the trail for a moment of silence, marking the moment of the attacks on the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and the United 93 crash in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

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