East Pierce Firefighters Compete in Annual Stairclimb Challenge

SEATTLE - Fourteen firefighters from East Pierce Fire and Rescue competed in the 21st annual Scott's Firefighter Stairclimb benefitting The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society on Sunday. Wearing their 50-pound firefighter gear, 1,550 participants climbed 69 flights of stairs, 1,311 steps, of the Columbia Center.

So far, the EPFR team has raised $6,816 for the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society.

"The climb is very gruelling both physically & mentally The first 10 or 20 floors dont seem too bad, but your breathing starts to get heavier as your body starts to heat up from the nearly 60 lbs of gear," said Ryan Shervanick, volunteer fire fighter and co-captain of the EPFR climb team. "I could only compare the feeling to working out inside of a sauna with full winter gear on."

Lining the walls of the Columbia Tower staircase were photos of loved ones -- cancer patients and survivors that kept the firefighters motivated.

Many participants climbed for friends and family affected by blood cancers. Shervanick climbed for his grandfather Max Young, who passed away a few years ago from a pre-leukemic blood condition. Luis Szarko climbs in honor of his grandmother who lost her battle last year.

The top finisher, Andrew Drobeck of Missoula (MT) City Fire, set a world firefighter stairclimb record with 10 minutes, 39 seconds. (Click here to view all results)

Here is how the men and women of East Pierce Fire & Rescue fared Sunday:

Congratulations and great job to all the firefighters at EPFR who participated.