Pasadena Fire Recruits Honor Fallen Firefighters With Grueling Rose Bowl Stadium Tradition

Before they answer their first call in Pasadena, the city’s newest firefighters must first conquer every step inside the Rose Bowl Stadium — and then drop to the ground 343 times.

The Pasadena Fire Department shared on social media that its recruits carry on a tradition in which they touch every step in the 103-year-old stadium and then perform 343 burpees, one for each of the New York City firefighters killed responding to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Fire Chief Chad Augustin, according to the department’s post, joins the recruits in the punishing workout at the stadium the department described as one they will “soon call home.”

The “343 Burpee Challenge” has become a common observance among fire departments across the country. Departments in Fresno, Madera and other cities hold annual versions of the exercise as a physical tribute to the FDNY members who lost their lives that day. But few departments can claim a setting like the Rose Bowl.

The Pasadena stadium, which opened in October 1922 and holds approximately 90,000 spectators, is recognized as a National Historic Landmark. It has hosted five Super Bowls, the 1994 FIFA World Cup Final, the 1999 Women’s World Cup Final and, in a very different capacity, served as a base camp for nearly 4,000 first responders during the Eaton Fire in January 2025.

The department’s reference to the stadium as a future home reflects its expanding role in Pasadena’s near-term future. The Rose Bowl will host the gold medal soccer matches for both the men’s and women’s tournaments during the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, with finals scheduled for July 28 and 29, 2028. The games will make the Rose Bowl only the second venue in history — alongside the LA Memorial Coliseum — to be used in three separate Olympic Games, following its roles in the 1932 and 1984 Games.

That the chief runs the steps and drops for burpees alongside his recruits is consistent with his background. Augustin, the 12th Pasadena fire chief, is a competitive CrossFit athlete who finished among the top 25 men in the world in the 50-to-54 age division at the 2024 Masters CrossFit Games in Birmingham, Alabama, according to the Pasadena Outlook. He has reached the CrossFit world championships seven times, including a third-place finish in 2019, the newspaper reported.

Augustin took command of the Pasadena Fire Department on February 22, 2021, after more than 20 years with the Sacramento Fire Department, where he rose from firefighter paramedic to deputy fire chief. He also works as a part-time flight paramedic with PHI Air Medical, a role he has held for more than two decades, according to Vertical Magazine.

The Pasadena Fire Department, established in 1887, operates eight fire stations and employs approximately 192 full-time personnel. The department led the city’s response to the Eaton Fire and has since proposed a 10-year plan to expand staffing, apparatus and infrastructure.

For the recruits who will staff those stations, the tradition at the Rose Bowl is both a physical test and an act of remembrance — a reminder, before their careers begin, of the sacrifice that defines their profession.