On March 10, eight Lopez Island Fire and EMS personnel participated in the 22nd Annual Scott Firefighter Stairclimb, a fundraising event for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The funds are used by the LLS to support its mission to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Thanks to the generosity of Lopezians, they raised over $2,000 to support the LLS mission.

The event was held at the Columbia Tower in Seattle and all the participants wearing 50 pounds of equipment climbed 69 stories, 1,311 stairs and 788 vertical feet in a timed race. There were 1,475 firefighters who completed the event and the fastest time was 10 minutes and 48 seconds. Samantha Swanson, Eryn Dye, Tracie Red Elk, Solomon Bill, Dayvid Rypinski, Buck Batway and Jim Ghiglione all completed the event.  They were assisted at the 40th floor with our air bottle changer by Justin Merrifield.

Solomon Bill was the fastest among teenage men with a time of 16:46. Samantha Swanson 27:33 and Eryn Dye 29:00 both 17 years of age were the youngest competitors and were second and third among teenage women. Tracie Red Elk 55:27 was the oldest female competitor. Dayvid Rypinski 20:19, Buck Batway 21:41 and Jim Ghiglione 49:31 were the times for the rest of the team.