Crime & Safety

Firefighters Take Stair Climbing Challenge to the Next Level

Eight Gig Harbor firefighters participated in the 20th annual Scott Firefighter Stairclimb in Seattle on Sunday.

Based on the top three times,  placed 77th overall at the 20th annual Scott Firefighter Stairclimb on Sunday. The who had signed up to climb the Columbia Center in downtown Seattle. The event raised money and awareness for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. 

Each competitor had to race in full firefighting gear and a breathing apparatus. The climb included 69 flights of stairs and 1,311 steps.

Gig Harbor firefighter Steve Nixon said he was pleased with his teammates' performance.

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"It takes a lot of work and a commitment to personal fitness toward job performance to be successful in this event," he said. "For the size of our department, we are really happy with the number of climbers we had and the funds we were able to raise."

Kory Burgess of Missoula Rural Fire District from Montana won the climb for the third consecutive year and set a new event record of 10 minutes, 53.79 seconds.

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As of Monday, the fire department had raised $4,075 in donations, according to the team website

Nixon said his team, Too Stupid to Stop, will be stepping up to the challenge next year for their 20th year.

Here the updated results from this year's race:

Placed Name Time 2010 Results 136 Marcin Szczepanski 16:11.41 N/A --- Keith Goodmansen 19:14* 18:19.00 (331st) 485 Steve Nixon 19:36.56 16:42.95 (164th) --- Peter Kauppila 20:23*

18:14.30 (322nd)

655 Eliza Hoover 21:22.59 N/A 800 Brian Stokke 23:23.75 23:03.80 (782nd) 858 Brad Harris 24:18.30 24:38.35 (880th) 979 Mike Dumas 27:06.17 N/A

*The results are according to Steve Nixon. The official times were not included in the final results. 

If you'd like to donate, go to www.firefighterstairclimb.org and click on "Donate." Select the team option and type in, Gig Harbor Fire. You can donate to the team or an individual climber.


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