Members of the Delta Fire Department are once again stepping up for clean air.
A team of eight firefighters will climb 48 storeys (739 steps) of the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre Hotel in the BC Lung Association’s Climb the Wall: the Stairclimb for Clean Air on Sunday, Feb. 24.
And while many participants will be climbing those stairs in typical running attire, firefighters will be doing it wearing 70 to 80 pounds of firefighting gear.
“It’s always a lot of fun. The seven to 14 minutes we have to climb might not be so fun, but you always feel good when you get to the top and it is, of course, all for a great cause,” said Delta team leader Eric Wilson.
The rest of the Delta team consists of: Nick Meerstra, Andrew Marcellus, Joe Semler, Erik Kloepper, Tim Mooney, Jordan Penman and Cornelis Uys.
Wilson said many of the team members have completed the challenge before, but this year they’ve added a couple of newcomers.
He said they hope to raise $2,000-plus as a team.
“Our charitable society has given us $500 so we are well on our way,” said Wilson. “We don’t get to interact with other fire departments too frequently, so it’s nice to chat with people from the other departments.
“Being physically fit is important to the job, but we don’t usually get to showcase our skills to the public outside of an emergency situation, so it’s fun to be associated with an event that the rest of the public is also taking part in.”
Those wishing to pledge to the Delta firefighters’ team can do so at: http://bcla.convio.net/site/TR/Events/General?team_id=2553&pg=team&fr_id=1131.
For more information on the event, see: www.stairclimb.ca.
