Six year old girl becomes honorary firefighter

The fire department family at Forest Grove Fire & Rescue grew by one additional member Thursday afternoon as Fire Chief Michael Kinkade presented the badge of Honorary Firefighter to six year Faith Canfield in recognition of the her heroic fight against cancer. 

For the last few months as the firefighters from Forest Grove Fire & Rescue and the Cornelius Fire Department have been practicing for the upcoming Seattle Stair Climb competition they have been motivated to climb by a very special little girl. Six year old Faith Canfield found out just over a year ago that she had Leukemia, one of her friends is the daughter of longtime Forest Grove Volunteer Firefighter Nick Chan and he thought that little Faith would be the perfect motivator for the team of firefighters that have been raising money as part of the Scott Stairclimb, which takes place every March in Seattle and is a fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  On a beautiful sunny Thursday afternoon in the fire truck bay of Fire Station 4 and surrounded by her family, friends, and firefighters from Forest Grove and Cornelius, Fire Chief Michael Kinkade talked to Faith about what it means to be a firefighter.  Speaking of the heroic fight she is putting up to rid her body of cancer for good, and how her name Faith alone is an inspiration and a motivator to those around her, including the firefighters that will be making the arduous climb on Sunday with her on their minds.  As the ceremony closed, Chief Kinkade presented young Faith with the silver firefighters badge and gently pinned it to her shirt.  

 
This coming Sunday, March 10, 2013, a group of twenty six Forest Grove and Cornelius firefighters will be putting on full firefighter combat gear and hooking up to their self contained breathing apparatus as they begin the climb up the 69 floors of the Columbia Center in downtown Seattle, Washington. Even though there isn’t a building in our two cities that is over four stories tall, we participate in this event, the largest firefighter competition in the world, to raise money and awareness for the fight against blood cancers. This year the team of firefighters raised over $11,900 that will go straight to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to fund research into finding a cure for these terrible diseases.  As they climb the stairs with burning legs and sweat pouring from their pores, when they think about quitting they will think about Faith and how her fight is much more difficult than anything they'll attempt and they will keep pushing to get to the top, to help beautiful little Faith keep up her fight.

You can help us raise money to fight this terrible disease.  Donations can be made here on our team page for the Seattle Stair Climb