{"id":396859,"date":"2026-09-11T12:54:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T12:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/396859\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T12:54:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T12:54:14","slug":"why-treasure-island-firefighters-walk-exactly-3-43-miles-to-remember-9-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/396859\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Treasure Island firefighters walk exactly 3.43 miles to remember 9\/11"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"9\/11 \"9\/11 9\/11 Bay Area tributes<\/a> <\/p>\n

There are a lot of events taking place in the Bay Area to remember the victims of 9\/11 and the heroes who responded. FOX 13\u2019s Matthew McClellan reports.\u00a0<\/p>\n

TREASURE ISLAND, Fla. – Along a stretch of Florida’s Gulf Coast, firefighters have found a simple way to make sure the sacrifice of September 11 is remembered long after those who witnessed it firsthand are gone.<\/p>\n

They walk. And the distance they cover is not chosen at random.<\/p>\n

Firefighters honor fallen 9\/11 heroes <\/p>\n

What we know:<\/p>\n

Every September 11, Treasure Island Fire Rescue holds a 3.43-mile Memorial Walk in honor of the 343 New York City firefighters who died responding to the World Trade Center attacks.<\/p>\n

The tradition began with just five firefighters. It has since grown into a citywide remembrance that brings firefighters and community members together.<\/p>\n

Why 3.43 miles?<\/p>\n

Each mile of the walk carries symbolism. The 3.43-mile distance represents the 343 firefighters killed on September 11, 2001.<\/p>\n

The timing carries meaning, too. Participants begin walking at 8:46 a.m., the time American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center.<\/p>\n

The route begins near John’s Pass at the Freedom Boat Club on Kingfish Drive. From there, participants make their way south along Gulf Boulevard before finishing at the Heron Parking Lot on Sunset Beach.<\/p>\n

How the tradition started <\/p>\n

The backstory:<\/p>\n

The Memorial Walk did not begin as a large public event.<\/p>\n

Treasure Island Fire Rescue Lt. Steven Rowland said it started with five on-duty firefighters who wanted to honor the 343 firefighters killed in the attacks.<\/p>\n

“What began with just five on-duty firefighters walking to honor the 343 brothers we lost on September 11, 2001, has grown into a city-wide tradition of remembrance,” Rowland said.<\/p>\n

The department says the purpose has remained the same even as participation has grown: remembering the courage and sacrifice of the first responders who died that day.<\/p>\n

Passing history to new generations <\/p>\n

Why you should care:<\/p>\n

The passage of time is changing what “never forget” means.<\/p>\n

For millions of Americans, September 11 is a lived memory. They remember where they were when the planes struck, when the towers fell and when the scale of what had happened began to become clear.<\/p>\n

But an increasing share of the country was either too young to remember the attacks or had not yet been born.<\/p>\n

Community traditions like the Treasure Island walk provide a way to pass that history to another generation, while keeping the focus on the individual lives behind one of the most recognizable numbers associated with 9\/11.<\/p>\n

For Treasure Island firefighters, that means returning to the same number year after year: 343.<\/p>\n

Three hundred and forty-three firefighters. 3.43 miles. And one walk intended to make sure their sacrifice is remembered.<\/p>\n

The Source: The information included in this story comes from Treasure Island Fire Rescue and the City of Treasure Island’s description of its annual 9\/11 Memorial Walk, including information about the history, route and symbolism of the event.<\/p>\n

Pinellas County<\/a>September 11<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"9\/11 Bay Area tributes There are a lot of events taking place in the Bay Area to remember…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":396860,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[47,115,1157,21612,202,204,203,199,201,200,628],"class_list":["post-396859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-fl","tag-news","tag-pinellas","tag-september-11","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}