District 13 firefighters in training for 69-floor cancer research fundraiser

Local firefighters are taking a step in the right direction when it comes to winning the fight against cancer.

Make that many steps.

Six members of Skagit County Fire District 13, including Chief Wood Weiss, will take part in the 33rd annual Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Firefighter Stair Climb in Seattle on March 10.

The event, whose mission is to raise much needed funding toward finding a cure for those battling blood cancer, is billed as the largest on-air stair climb competition in the world.

Standing 788 feet tall, the Columbia Center is the loftiest building in Seattle and the second tallest west of the Mississippi River. Firefighters participating in the stair climb will ascend 69 floors and 1,356 steps to reach the building’s acclaimed sky view observatory.

This is the 12th Columbia Center stair climb for Weiss. He and the District 13 team will be among an anticipated 2,000 firefighters from across the nation and around the world registered to compete.

The real winners, of course, will be those for whom the event is designed to benefit.

“Completing the climb is a physical triumph in itself,” said an LLS spokesperson. “But it is also symbolic of, yet pales in comparison to, the strenuous journey that blood cancer patients endure. As firefighters race to the top, they keep in mind that every step forward is representative of moving toward finding a cure for all those battling this terrible disease.”

Weiss told the Weekly News that the District 13 target goal is $2,500.

“We still need to raise about $400,” he said on Friday, “so those wishing to help can do so by sending donations to Skagit County Fire District 13 on the LLS website or they can drop it by at the Snee Oosh Road Station.”

Funds raised by participating firefighters will go toward blood cancer research and patient services.

Weiss said the fire district crew stepped up to the challenge with a Jan. 27 training session at the Swinomish Casino & Lodge. District firefighters received donations then from casino patrons while working out on a stair climber machine set up in the food court area.

Over $20 million has been raised since the inception of the firefighter’s stair climb, which now can be undertaken on site or virtually. All funds raised directly benefit LLS, the largest nonprofit dedicated to creating a world without blood cancers.