Firefighter Tyler Dillmon tried to climb 100 flights during his turn on a StairMaster outside a Vancouver Fred Meyer this afternoon.
“I thought I was on pace,” Dillmon said. “I got 98.”
Dillmon and about 10 other members of the Vancouver Fire Department were rotating half-hour shifts on the exercise machine from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. as part of a two-pronged effort aimed at preparing for the Scott Firefighter Stair Climb on March 6 in Seattle and raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Last year, firefighters raised more than $2,200 during two days spent huffing on stair-climbers in front of Fred Meyer locations. StairMaster-Schwinn Fitness has already made a $500 contribution.
“We’re about on the same pace,” said firefighter-EMT Dan Lawson, who organized the event.
Firefighters were today in front of the Fred Meyer Grand Central at Grand and Columbia House boulevards, just north of state Highway 14, east of Pearson Field.
If you missed them, they’ll be set up Sunday at the Fisher’s Landing Fred Meyer, 16600 S.E. McGillivray Blvd.
Twenty-seven members of the fire department are planning to compete against other fire departments in next month’s event, which involves climbing 69 floors of the Columbia Center as quickly as possible.
The three fastest times from each entry are tabulated in a department’s final score. Dillmon registered one of Vancouver’s top marks in 2010 when Vancouver firefighters finished second overall.
“Tyler’s one of our fastest guys,” Lawson said as Dillmon sat nearby catching his breath.
As of 1 p.m., firefighters had climbed 1,300 floors and covered more than 26 miles. “We already did a marathon,” Lawson said.
Firefighters wore fire-protective suits and breathing apparatus, which weigh a combined 65 pounds.
Lawson said many donors put money in one of two donation boxes set atop a table near the stair-climbing machine before asking, “What’s this for?”
“People in Vancouver are really generous,” he said.
As for simulating training, it was about 31 degrees at 1 p.m., which falls well shy of what it will be like in the Columbia Center. “When you’re in that stairwell with all of those guys, the toughest part is the heat,” Lawson said.
