PORT ANGELES – The annual Firefighter Stairclimb in Seattle is coming up in March, and local firefighters are sponsoring a fundraiser this Sunday (March 1st) for a local team of firefighters who will participate in the event.
The effort raises funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). Since the first LLS Firefighter Stairclimb in 1991, this event has raised over $20 million dollars.
On Sunday, the 8th Street Car Wash in Port Angeles will open its facilities to the North Olympic Stairclimb Team as a fundraising effort. Firefighters will be on hand to help wash and dry your car.
Fire District 2, firefighter and paramedic, Margie Bruckner is one of the organizers.
“We’ll be out at the 8th Street Car Wash, and they have generously donated coins for us to get people to wash their cars in three different bays and all the firefighters will be out there helping to wash and dry and raise money for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society for the stair climb. We will be out there from 8 to 5. So we fundraise from November till March when we climb, and a little bit past the climb. But each one of us is required to meet a $300 individual minimum, and then we pool team donations. For fundraisers like this car wash that we’re doing for the whole team.”
The stairclimb in Seattle takes place on (Sunday) March 8th, at the Columbia Center Tower. Teams will have to climb 69 floors, 1,311 stairs totaling 788 feet. The entirety of the course must be completed while wearing a full 60 pounds of turnout gear. They will also have to wear and use their “SCBA” air-packs during the climb.
Bruckner told us that this stairclimb is more than just a fundraising effort.
“We have deep emotional connection to this climb. It’s not just a challenge, for a lot of us have been affected through our family. But especially one of our local past volunteers, Kristen Smith, died from these blood cancers not very long ago. I think it’s important for people to know that it’s not just raising money for something. That’s far away. It’s very close to home and really important.”
The car wash effort will run on Sunday from 8:00 AM through 5:00 PM, at 111 East 8th Street in Port Angeles, on the north side of the street.
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Photo courtesy Clallam 2 Fire Rescue