Stairclimb Challenge Fundraiser

(From L to R): Firefighter Michelangelo von Dassow, Lieutenants Michael Henderson and Gilbert Venegas – Contributed photo

San Juan Island Firefighters Participate in Challenging Fundraiser to Fight Leukemia and Lymphoma

FRIDAY HARBOR, WA — On Saturday, February 22, 2020 at Friday Harbor Marketplace from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., four San Juan Island Fire and Rescue firefighters (SJIF&R) will be out in front of the store training and raising funds for the 2020 Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) Stairclimb.

Lieutenants Michael Henderson, Gilbert Venegas and Firefighters Michelangelo von Dassow and Brooke Sevier will be in full structural turnout gear – boots, pants, coat (liners intact), helmet, and gloves and using their breathing apparatus on a stair climber exercise machine in front of the market to raise money to fight blood cancers and prepare for their participation in the world’s largest on-air stair climb competition.

On Sunday, March 8, 2020, the four firefighters will compete in the 2020 Leukemia and Lymphoma (LLS) Stairclimb. SJIF&R firefighters will join over 2,000 career and volunteer firefighters from throughout Washington and around the country in the race to climb the stairs to the top of the Columbia Center, Seattle’s tallest building.

The entirety of the course must be completed while wearing full turnout gear, while on-air. It takes 69 floors, 1,356 steps, and 788 ft. vertical elevation gain to reach the highly acclaimed Sky View Observatory on the 73rd floor. This physically challenging competition is representative of the struggle that blood cancer patients endure.

The firefighters are dedicating their LLS fundraising climb in honor of former San Juan Island Fire District Commissioner John Jensen, who successfully battled multiple myeloma.

Please come root for our firefighters on Saturday February 22, 2020 at Friday Harbor Marketplace, 515 Market Street in Friday Harbor, from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and help us raise money to research and fight blood cancers.

Donations are also accepted on the SJIF&R team’s LLS Firefighter Stairclimb page: https://shar.es/a3Bhmj

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The San Juan Island Fire & Rescue was established on October 6, 1958. The fire department covers about 55 square miles, includes all of San Juan Island, as well as Brown and Pearl Islands. For more information, please visit http://www.sjifire.org/

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