De Castroverde Law Honors First Responders at the 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb at The STRAT

On September 11, 2026, twenty-five years after the attacks, firefighters and first responders from across the Las Vegas Valley gathered at the base of The STRAT for the 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb. Juan Carlos Zavala, who oversees marketing and social media at De Castroverde Law, climbed with them.

The route is 1,455 stairs and 108 flights, ending at the top of The STRAT’s 1,149-foot tower. It is a long way up in good conditions. In turnout gear, it is something else.

1,455 Stairs. 108 Flights. One Tribute.

Every flight climbed at The STRAT stands in for a flight the 343 FDNY firefighters climbed on September 11, 2001. They went up while everyone else was coming down. Most of them did not come back.

Finishing all 108 flights completes the ascent those firefighters started. One tower stands in for another, and the climb is made by people who do the same job today, in the same gear, for the same reasons.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed that morning. Firefighters, police officers, paramedics, office workers, and passengers. The stairwell at The STRAT is quiet by comparison, but nobody in it that day was thinking about anything else.

Climbing Alongside Those Who Carry More

Juan Carlos climbed with a backpack full of camera equipment. It was heavy by the fortieth floor and heavier by the eightieth.

It was also nothing next to what the firefighters carried. They climbed in full turnout gear with breathing equipment on their backs, and some added tools and hose on top of that, up to 75 pounds in all. Their gear is built to keep heat out, which also means it keeps heat in. They climbed at a steady pace anyway.

The weight is the point. In 2001, the firefighters moving up the towers carried the same loads up the same kind of stairwell, and they did it without knowing how much time they had left.

Documenting the Men and Women Behind the Climb

Before the first group started up, Juan Carlos photographed firefighters checking straps, adjusting masks, and waiting in the lobby. Some of them talked. Most did not.

After finishing his own climb, he kept working. He photographed the crews at the top, the handshakes on the observation deck, and the long pauses in between.

None of it is action photography. These are pictures of people who chose to spend a Friday morning carrying 75 pounds up a tower for strangers who died a quarter century ago. That is what the day looked like up close.

First Responders From Across the Las Vegas Valley

Crews from Las Vegas Fire & Rescue, Henderson Fire Department, and North Las Vegas Fire Department made the climb. So did police officers, EMTs and paramedics, military personnel, and others from the emergency response community across Southern Nevada.

These are the departments that answer calls in our neighborhoods. The same crews who show up after a crash on the 15, a fire on a residential street, or a medical emergency at two in the morning spent this morning honoring the ones who did not make it home.

Thank you to every firefighter, officer, EMT, paramedic, service member, and responder who keeps doing the work.

We Remember. We Honor. We Will Never Forget.

De Castroverde Law has represented families in Southern Nevada for more than three decades. Our work happens in courtrooms and offices, but the community we serve is the same one first responders serve every day, and showing up for it matters outside of a case file.

Taking part in this climb was an honor. Seeing the firefighters before, during, and after the ascent was harder to put into words. Twenty-five years on, the loss has not gotten any smaller.

We remember the nearly 3,000 people killed on September 11, 2001. We honor the first responders who went in anyway. We will not forget either.

See more of our work in the community.

The Brothers Have Your Back

De Castroverde Law Honors First Responders at the 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb at The STRAT

1,455 Stairs. 108 Flights. One Tribute.

Climbing Alongside Those Who Carry More

Documenting the Men and Women Behind the Climb

First Responders From Across the Las Vegas Valley

We Remember. We Honor. We Will Never Forget.

Honored to Remember. Honored to Climb.

De Castroverde Law Honors First Responders at the 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb at The STRAT

1,455 Stairs. 108 Flights. One Tribute.

Climbing Alongside Those Who Carry More

Documenting the Men and Women Behind the Climb

First Responders From Across the Las Vegas Valley

We Remember. We Honor. We Will Never Forget.

Honored to Remember. Honored to Climb.

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