Forest Grove Firefighters Climb For a Cure

On Sunday March 6th, fifteen career and volunteer Forest Grove Fire & Rescue firefighters made the 3-hour journey north to Seattle to compete in the 20th Annual Scott Firefighter Stair Climb. They joined 1,500 other firefighters from the across the northwest and as far away as New Zealand in raising money and awareness for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. In this annual charity fundraising event firefighters race to the top of the 73-story Columbia Center in downtown Seattle, while carrying 50 pounds of gear including an oxygen tank and mask.


Prior to the event, Forest Grove firefighters trained rigorously for months in an effort to prepare themselves for the daunting task of climbing 1,311 stairs in full firefighting gear. That training paid off well as the team as a whole placed 62 out of 118 fire departments. A number of the team members achieved personal best times including intern firefighter Nick McEvoy who also accomplished the fastest team time at 17 minutes 6 seconds!

Firefighter Ivan Bratchuk gets a hug from his son just before he made the climb up the Columbia Center

In addition to a great performance on the stairs, the Forest Grove team also raised over $5,846 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Forest Grove Fire & Rescue would like to graciously thank the community, friends and families for their support. In a few months, some of the team members will begin training again – this time for the Portland Firefighter Stair Climb on September 29 that will benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Even on a cloudy day, the view from the top is still impressive

The following firefighters also competed in the stairclimb: Keith Baas, 17 minutes, 54.99 seconds; Robert Webb, 18 minutes, 54.74 seconds; Ivan Bratchuk, 20 minutes, 39.99 seconds; Dave Doornink, 21 minutes, 58.64 seconds; Will Murphy, 22 minutes, 16.38 seconds; Tommy Heisler 22 minutes, 26.18 seconds; Damian Peters, 24 minutes, 14.29 seconds; Tony Carter, 27 minutes, 10.48 seconds; Rick Ilg, 27 minutes, 47.49 seconds; Ted Penge 28 minutes, 53.31 seconds; Jason Lawson, 29 minutes, 37.65 seconds; Joe Smith, 30 minutes, 23.18 seconds; Nick Chan, 41 minutes, 58.89 seconds.