El Pasoans gathered at the Sun Bowl Stadium on the UTEP campus Friday, Sept. 11, for a 25th Anniversary 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb honoring the firefighters, police officers and emergency medical services staff who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The University of Texas at El Paso Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, partnering with the City of El Paso and El Paso County Emergency Services District No. 1, is hosting the event.

More than 1,500 people have signed up to participate, including members of Fort Bliss, the Border Patrol, the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

An opening ceremony is scheduled for 7 a.m. in the stadium, followed promptly by the stair climb.

Participants will climb 110 flights of stairs, representing the floors of the World Trade Center in New York City.

Remarks were made by UTEP President Heather Wilson, El Paso Police Department Chief Peter Pacillas, El Paso Fire Department Chief Jonathan Killings, El Paso County ESD No. 1 Fire Chief Kristian Menendez and others.

The event included a 21-gun salute and a flyover by the 1st Armored Division Aviation Brigade from Fort Bliss.

RELATED: The morning America changed forever: A timeline of the Sept. 11 attacks

The memorial ceremony will also serve as the community’s first look at a newly redesigned, UTEP-themed Pumper 8 for the El Paso Fire Department.

The department said the pumper will arrive in El Paso this week, undergo final preparations and officially enter service in late September or early October.

Once placed into service, Pumper 8 will be assigned to Fire Station 8 at 301 E. Robinson Ave., two blocks from the UTEP campus. The fire department said the apparatus will have the same essential capabilities as other frontline equipment, while its UTEP colors and design elements are meant to highlight the connection between EPFD, UTEP and the El Paso community.

“Pumper 8 represents the strong connection between the El Paso Fire Department, UTEP, and the people we are honored to serve,” Killings said. “This apparatus will be there when our community needs us most, and its design reflects the pride we share in this great city and the institutions that make it special.”

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