Competition for a cause
Photo courtesy Greg Thaxton Coeur d’Alene Firefighters at the 2019 stair climb at the Columbia Center in Seattle, from left, were Chad Mitchell, Greg Thaxton and Scott Robins.
Coeur d’Alene and Northern Lakes firefighters will be going above and beyond for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society next month.
To be specific, they’ll be climbing 69 floors, or 1,356 steps, to reach the top of the Columbia Center in Seattle. Oh, and they’ll be wearing some 50 pounds of gear, including breathing from air tanks, in the name of fighting blood cancers. And they’ll be racing some 2,000 firefighters from across the nation and other countries, too.
They’re raising money, but as Coeur d’Alene firefighter Greg Thaxton pointed out, they want to win.
“It’s a competition,” he said. “And we’re firefighters. We’re guys.”
The LLS Firefighter Stairclimb is the world’s largest on-air stair climb competition. Open only to career, volunteer, or retired firefighters, it is a sold-out event that calls for ascending the tallest building in Seattle — the second-tallest high rise west of the Mississippi — on March 8 to reach the Sky View Observatory with breathtaking views of the Puget Sound.
Firefighters are sent out every 12 seconds, so it can get crowded — and heated — in the stairway as morning turns to afternoon. Local firefighters are aiming to finish in less than 20 minutes.
“By evening time, that stairwell is cooking,” Thaxton said. “It’s hot in there. I’m grateful I get to go early.”
It takes from about 12 minutes for the fastest to over 20 minutes for the slower firefighters. A cancer survivor battalion will go out, as well.
It raises money through individual and team fundraising, sponsorship, and entry fees which are then invested in its mission to fund blood cancer research and support services for patients and their families.
Last year, the Firefighter Stairclimb campaign raised over $2.9 million and sold out in 14 minutes. Now in its 29th year, it has raised more than $20 million.
The Coeur d’Alene Fire Department is sending Thaxton, Scott Robinson, Justin Torfin, Matt Church, Neko Caballero, Matt Glenn and Joel Batchelder.
The team hopes to raise about $50,000.
“It’s an excuse to do something good and give back,” Thaxton said.
They will be doing a joint fundraiser with Northern Lakes Fire Department Stairclimb Team at the Post Falls Super 1 from 3-6 p.m. March 6. They’ll be accepting donations while taking turns climbing a stairstepper out front.