‘Close to home’: Firefighter walks arena steps to mark 9/11

Houghton — An Upper Peninsula firefighter marched the steps of a college ice arena for more than two hours to honor the first responders who died on 9/11.

Cory Lightfoot typically goes to Lambeau Field, the home of the Green Bay Packers, to hit the stairs in an annual 9/11 anniversary event. But the event was canceled because of the coronavirus.

Lightfoot, a Houghton firefighter, took 1,980 steps Friday at MacInnes Ice Arena at Michigan Tech University, The Daily Mining Gazette reported. It’s equal to walking the 110 stories of the World Trade Center in New York.

“It hits close to home, because you realize that morning they put their gear on, like we all do, and expected to make it through that day, and they didn’t,” Lightfoot said. “It reminds you of the dangers of the job, but it also makes you proud to be a firefighter that does that for the community.”