Keizer Firefighters Climb Stairs for Charity

Salem-News.com

(Keizer) - A team of seven Firefighters from the Keizer Fire District traveled to Seattle, Washington on Sunday, March 5th, to participate in the 15th Annual Scott Firefighter Stairclimb, a fund raising event for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

The stair climb takes place each year at the Columbia Center Building (formerly the Bank of America Tower) in Seattle, Washington. At 788 feet in height, it is the tallest building in Seattle and the second tallest building west of the Mississippi river.

Participants in the event wear over 50 lbs of firefighting boots, pants, jackets, gloves, helmet and self-contained breathing equipment in racing up the 69 flights of stairs, or 1,311 steps, to reach the top of the building.

This is the second year a team from the Keizer Fire District has entered the event. In 2004 the Keizer team was one of 140 fire agencies from around the world that participated in the event and raised $215,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

This years team includes event includes Firefighters Jeff Burhans (team organizer), Doug Brown, Scott Wildfang, Kurt Shelton, Greg Biben, Scott Keniston and Recruit Firefighter Jim Simpson. Team Captain Jessica Cross and Firefighter Amber Butler will accompany the team to the competition to provide support doing things such as changing air bottles on the air packs the firefighter must while making the climb.