Chief Leader – April 14, 2015
by SARAH DORSEY
He gave up his life in a World Trade Center stairwell on Sept. 11—and now supporters will climb stairs to honor his legacy.
The Stephen Stiller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, which has for 13 years hosted a 5k run in memory of another Sept. 11 hero, will hold the first stair climb allowed in One World Trade Center May 17 to honor FDNY Capt. William “Billy” Burke.
‘He Saw Other Tower Fall’
“He was one of the few firefighters in the North Tower that saw the South Tower fall,” said John Hodge, the foundation’s chief of operations. Aware of the danger that the building around him
could collapse, too, he nonetheless stayed inthe stairwell with two civilians, one in a wheelchair, to help them. He ordered his reluctant men to descend.
“They kept calling him on the radios,” Mr. Hodge said, explaining that he’d heard part of the story from Captain Burke’s family. His colleagues kept asking where he was and he kept telling them he was just behind them; he’d see them back at the rig.
“He wasn’t being truthful about that,” Mr. Hodge said. Instead, he’d remained with the civilians.
A 90-Floor Odyssey
Captain Burke died that day in the tower but he will be saluted by the climb, which is named in his honor.
Participants will ascend to the 90th floor—about 180 flights. But disabled or out-of-shape supporters have no excuse not to take part: there will be a “virtual climb” that allows those who submit the registry fee to join the others.
Registrants pay $100 and must also raise $250 in donations. The funds go to the Billy Burke Foundation, a non-profit set up by the Captain’s family, and to Building for America’s Bravest, a program created by Tunnel to Towers.
Its signature achievement is building “smart homes” for veterans catastrophically injured in Iraq or Afghanistan.
‘Can Control From iPad’
“Every essential function of the house can operate off a smartphone or an iPad,” Mr. Hodge said. Almost all of the recipients are triple- or quadruple-amputees, and the homes help them live independently.
“Some of our quadruple-amputees are living by themselves right now,” he added.
So far, more than 800 people have signed up. Members of Engine 21, Captain Burke’s fire company, and Squad 1, Stephen Stiller’s company, will lead the climb.
Mr. Stiller’s heroism on Sept. 11 inspired the foundation and its annual Tunnel to Towers run. He was getting off his shift in Park Slope, Brooklyn, when he learned of the attacks. The Battery Tunnel was closed when he tried to drive his truck to the Trade Center, so he got out and ran there, lugging 60 pounds of gear. He, too, perished in the collapse. The annual run retraces his route.
Plan to Repeat It
The organizers hope the stair climb will become an annual event, too. Such events are now held regularly by first-responders in other parts of the country to honor the FDNY’s Sept. 11 losses.
“This is gonna be the Holy Grail of stair climbs,” Mr. Hodge said.
Participants—most of whom, he notes, are not first-responders—are asked to register by May 10. A ceremony will be held at 7:30 a.m. before the climb as well as a reception after.
“Triumph and tragedy happened in the stairwells of the North and South Towers, and that’s why it’s so important and this climb is going to be so iconic,” Mr. Hodge said.
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