Firefighter Scott Woodhouse, clad in his turnout gear, took his turn on a StairMaster outside the Fisher’s Landing Fred Meyer on Friday afternoon.
Woodhouse and several other firefighters from an eight-member team rotated 20- to 30-minute shifts on the exercise machine over four hours. The spectacle aimed to prepare the firefighters for the 26th annual Scott Firefighter Stair Climb on March 12 in Seattle and raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Before Friday’s shift, the Vancouver Fire Department team had already raised about $11,000, firefighter and team captain Justin Smith said. He hoped to raise about $17,000 by the time they head to the Columbia Center, Washington’s tallest building. Vancouver Firefighters Union IAFF Local 452 donated $1,500 toward the cause.
Approximately 2,000 firefighters from around the world will climb 69 flights or 1,311 steps for a vertical elevation of 788 feet. Smith said the goal is to make the climb in less than 20 minutes.
The cause is near and dear to the department, Smith said, because it has lost several firefighters to cancer over the years.
