Lyle Bellah of the Enumclaw Fire Department was the top local finisher in the 20th annual Scott Firefighter Stairclimb benefiting The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society March 6. The 26-year-old finished the 69-floor climb – that’s 1,311 steps to the top of Seattle’s Columbia Center – in 14 minutes, 45.31 seconds to finish 46th among the 1,336 finishers.
Bellah bettered his 2010 time of 14:55.90.
Jason Parlari, 108th, was the Buckley Fire Department’s top finisher. The 33-year-old finished in 15:41.56. Buckley’s Kyna Moore, 29, was among the top female firefighters. She finished in 21:35.42.
Enumclaw’s top female finisher was Nona Zilbauer in 23:03.92.
Other participating Enumclaw firefighters were Andrea Huizenga, Steven Lentz, Lucas Racey, John Bloomer, Maryn Otto, Darius Vaitkus, Joseph Otto, Chuck Hauswirth, Sheree Good, Jeri Freeburg and Patrick Kelly.
In addition to Parlari and Moore, Buckley Fire participants included Don Baxter, Kyle Ferguson, Dalon Wesner, Gavin Peck, Jared Barrett, Nick Jackson, Justin Torres, Shay LaMarsh, Lucas Ross, Jonathon Riggsby, Jordan Kerrigan, Dean Mundy, Brennan Sallstrom, David Tracy, Caitlin Riggsby, Will Fogelberg, Kyla Wytko, Joe Skipworth, Alan Predmore, Dawn Felt, Josh McCutchen and Kaylee Garrett.
A fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, money collected currently sits at $750,000 with two weeks left in fundraising. Last year, the event raised $780,000.
The race between the Enumclaw and Buckley fire departments is close on that front. The city of Buckley has raised slightly more than $16,500. The Enumclaw Fire Department has brought in around $15,000.
Aiding Enumclaw’s fundraising effort this year was the last-minute approved substitution of Hauswirth, an Enumclaw police officer, who was given special dispensation to climb in the name of Sgt. Steve Robinson, a fellow EPD officer who died of leukemia earlier this year.
Enumclaw Fire Chief Joe Clow explained to the City Council during its March 14 meeting, the Stair Climb is a firefighter-only event and EFD had a team member drop out due to injury. Hauswirth had a desire to climb in Robinson’s name and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society allowed him to take the place of the injured firefighter. Clow said the entire Enumclaw team dedicated its climbs to Robinson and, in another unprecedented move, event organizers allowed Robinson’s family and fiancee to be on the top floor to greet team members as they finished.
The public can still contribute to their local fire department online at www.firefighterstairclimb.org or by dropping off a check at the firehouse.
