WAPELLA — Every summer, firefighters gather in Calgary to raise awareness and donations one step at a time. Now in its 11th year, the Firefighter Stairclimb on June 8 is an event many firefighters train for throughout the year, with a mission to climb the tallest tower in Calgary — Brookfield Place. Participants climb the 1,370 steps of 57 storeys while in modified firefighter gear, all the while raising money for Wellspring Alberta.
“It’s a commitment to train for it and then drive out to Calgary for a day, and I think a lot of people are intimidated by it because it sounds really hard, but it’s really not that hard when you’re actually doing it,” explained Wapella firefighter Jim McGinty. “It’s not a race, you’re racing yourself, really, but I think people are intimidated by how it sounds.”
This will be the fourth year members of the Wapella and District Fire Department have attended the event, and joining McGinty will be fellow firefighters Mathieu Audet and Ryan Goliboski.
Those climbing are not decked out in full turnout gear, but as McGinty told the World-Spectator, elements of equipment are worn.
“We do it in our boots, our helmet and with an SCBA set on,” he said. “You can wear your duty gear, which is like pants and a shirt, or you can wear shorts and a t-shirt, or your wildland gear. There’s a wee bit of everything, but it gets pretty warm in there, so most of us are just doing shorts and t-shirts.”
To prepare for the big climb, the local firefighters have been training while wearing some of the gear.
“I train down at Anytime Fitness in Moosomin, and I wear a weighted vest to simulate the SCBA for training on a stair climber, which helps,” McGinty said, adding that the tank on his back weighs around 25 to 28 lbs. “Myself, and Mathieu, and Ryan have all been training on the stair climbers. That’s the best way to do it. Generally, we do about 90 floors on the stair climber, which equates to the 57 flights in Calgary.”
The cause
The Calgary stair climb is a unifying event, drawing participants from Alberta, B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Texas, Alaska, California, New York, Australia, and Denmark. It was inspired by the Scott Firefighter Stairclimb in Seattle, and was founded by Kathy Blas, sister of fallen Calgary firefighter Gord Paul. The event supports firefighters and community members with cancer.
This year, the crew from Wapella will be honouring one of their fallen firefighters, Abagail Kennedy-Korth, who lost her fight with Ewing sarcoma in March.
“We’re dedicating this year’s climb to Abagail. We’re climbing for her,” McGinty said. “When you get your race number, you can write a name for someone you’re climbing for. We decided this year we’ll do it for Abagail.”
Kennedy-Korth was a firefighter during her time in Wapella, remembered fondly for her energy and volunteering spirit around the fire hall.
Cancer is the number one cause of line-of-duty deaths in firefighters, with 20 presumptive types recognized as occupational hazards directly related to firefighting. Exposure to heat, toxic materials, and byproducts of fire puts firefighters at an increased risk of developing cancer. The stairclimb event raises funds for Wellspring Alberta, a charity that offers a wide range of free programming for cancer patients and their families. They also contribute a portion of funds raised to the Firefighters Assistance Charitable Society.
“It was set up by the sister of a Calgary firefighter who passed away from brain cancer that was related to his time as a firefighter,” McGinty said. “Wellspring helped her family out and helped her out, so she’s been organizing this for 11 years in his memory.”
Those interested in donating to the Wapella crew, who have the team name The Salty Vollies, can do so online through give.wellspring.ca/fundraisers/thesaltyvollies.
Working together
There’s a strong bond uniting firefighters, and having the chance to meet or reunite with friends from all over the map is another draw of the event.
“That’s the best part, there’s a really good sense of camaraderie when you’re there, because everyone’s there for the same reason,” McGinty described. “If you catch someone up that seems like they’re struggling, guys will always hang back and help them, support them and say, ‘I’ll climb with you for the next couple of floors.’ It’s a really good feeling, a sense of brotherhood and sisterhood.”
A little friendly competition also exists in a special event called Challenge the Chief, which asks, ‘Are you tougher and faster than Calgary Fire Chief Steve Dongworth?’ Participants that raise a minimum of $5,000 before the June 8 climb can challenge the chief, again with proceeds going to Wellspring.
McGinty noted he’s not going to take on Dongworth this year, but he did credit the efforts of the many volunteers who make the climb a success.
“There’s a lot of volunteers stationed at certain floors,” he said. “It’s a huge effort from the organizers, the volunteers, to the firefighters because we couldn’t do it if the volunteers weren’t there to support. It’s good fun. And for me personally, it’s been a really good motivator to get out, get exercise, and do some, do some physical training. It helps to have that kind of target to focus on, and just improve my health and fitness. So that’s been a big driver for me as well.”
