Seventeen firefighters from South Kitsap Fire and Rescue participated in the annual Scott’s Firefighter Stair Climb Challenge on March 8, at the Columbia Center in downtown Seattle.
SKFR finished with a team total of 50.57 for its top three finishers. Cody Baker, 28, finished in 15 minutes, 48 seconds, while Scott Gammill, 44, recorded a time of 15:49. Jesse Pingeon, 32, was third at 19:21.
Baker finished 99th overall, Gammill was 103rd and Pingeon 472nd among 1,710 (1,548 male and 163 female) participants.
The top male finisher was Andrew Drobeck, 33, of the Missoula City Fire Department, at 10:46 and Michelle Croft, 46, of Columbia River Fire and Rescue was the top female at 14:54.
Fire Chief Steve Wright, 52, was 41st in the fire chief challenge. He finished the course in 25:36 and was 1,135 overall.
“As always it’s good to see the SKFR membership join in with this yearly event,” Wright said. “It’s for a good cause that is close to many of us in the fire service.”
He said the event presents a very good physical challenge and some friendly competition — both of which SKFR enjoys.
“Personally, as fire chief I still climb for all these reasons, although it’s proving to be more of a challenge each year as I get older,” Wright said “My climbing time is not the focus any longer, it’s the participation and camaraderie that keeps me going each year now.”
Other SKFR firefighters finishing the climb were:
• 516th: Robert Jones, 33, 19:35
• 571st: Joshua Zurbrugg, 32, 20:03
• 595th: Randy Eaton, 45, 20:12
• 742nd: Leif Anderson, 35, 21:59
• 781st: Mike Lewis, 47, 21:46
• 1,133rd: David McCarthy, 39, 25:33
• 1,124th: Mike Kehl, 46, 25:34
• 1,213th: Reagen Benedetti, 36, 26:38
• 1,337th: Shawn Prestegard, 36, 28:51
• 1,451st: Cody Goodwin, 41, 31:57
• 1,461st: Edward Seibold, 53, 32:14
At 788 feet of vertical elevation, the Columbia Center is the second tallest building west of the Mississippi. It takes 69 flights of stairs and 1,311 steps to reach the acclaimed observation deck overlooking the city.
The stair climb supports the mission of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, raising money through sponsorships, individual and department fundraising, and entry fees.
Last year, the event featured 1,800 firefighters from more than 300 different departments and brought in a record $1.97 million for blood-cancer research and patient services.
