The only thing on fire at Seattle’s Columbia Center Sunday, March 4, will be the lungs of 1,300 firefighters competing in the 16th annual Scott Firefighter Stairclimb to benefit The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Seven Edmonds firefighters will be among those making the 788-foot ascent of the second-tallest building west of the Mississippi River. They are Blake Anderson, Art DeLisle, Jason Dickinson, Jay Ford, David Hunter, Brian McAllister and Joe Soucy.
The largest firefighter competition in the world, the event attracts entrants from as far away as New Zealand and Newfoundland. Stair climbers vie for men’s and women’s titles in individual competition. Team titles are awarded based on the combined time of the team’s three fastest racers.
The Edmonds guys say they are doing it for the challenge, camaraderie and just because it’s there.
Last year, Brent Molsberry, a 26-year-old volunteer firefighter with Chuckanut Fire Department near Bellingham, covered the 1,311 steps in 11 minutes, 17 seconds to win. Georgia Sanz Daniels, 38, representing Graham (Pierce County) Fire and Rescue, took the women’s title for the eighth straight year in a time of 15 minutes, 27 seconds.
The best finish for an Edmonds firefighter last year was Hunter’s 345th-place finish in 19 minutes, 35 seconds.
The firefighters will don 50-70 pounds of combat gear, including self-contained breathing apparatus, for the trek up the 69 flights of stairs. The highly competitive ones run or do what’s called a sprint climb. Most do the rest step — a steady step, pause, step — usually associated with mountain climbers and hikers. Does anyone full out sprint up the stairs? “Freaks of nature, maybe,” offered Dickinson, 30, who placed in the middle of the pack last year.
“Breathing through a straw” — the 1-1/2-inch breathing tube through which firefighters suck air — and overheating are the toughest challenges, declared Dickinson, adding that the climb “definitely isn’t fun.”
DeLisle, 49, who will be tackling his tenth consecutive climb, was a tad more blunt. “That stair climb is the worst thing you can imagine,” concluded the firefighter who in his off hours scales mountains and leads long-distance bike treks as well as rides his bike from his north Everett home to work.
The Edmonds contingency’s training methods vary from a ratcheted-up version of their normal workout to logging treadmill miles dressed in combat gear and the dratted air bottle. DeLisle dons seven sweatshirts, two pairs of sweatpants, a 40-pound weight vest and twin five-pound ankle weights as part of his work out.
Although some firefighters solicit pledges for the stair climb, Dickinson said the Edmonds crew are asking their supporters to contact The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to make a donation.
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