A four-person team of career and volunteer crew from Key Peninsula Fire District 16 completed the 35th annual Leukemia and Lymphoma Society firefighter Columbia Center stair climb challenge in Seattle March 8, setting new personal best records.
Almost 2,000 firefighters from around the world signed up for the sold-out event to climb 69 flights of stairs, 1,356 steps, for a 788-foot elevation gain to reach the Sky View Observatory on top of the Columbia tower in full turnout gear, including gloves, boots, helmets, and facemasks, while breathing the air from tanks strapped to their backs.
The Seattle climb is the world’s largest on-air contest, routinely selling out to participants raising funds to find cures for leukemia and lymphoma, according to the LLS.
“It’s brutal,” said KPFD Public Information Officer Anne Nesbit. “You go in your firefighting gear, about 75 pounds. Everyone can see how hard that is, like what cancer survivors endure.”
The first-place finisher was Bellevue firefighter Miles Farrow-Johnson, 37, with a time of 11:53.66.
KPFD lieutenant Brandon Hagen, firefighter/paramedic, 42, had the KP team’s best time at 20:29.6, ranking 570 out of 1,915 climbers, though the rankings were not final by press time. He is scheduled for promotion to captain March 10.
Volunteer FF/EMT Ian Rogers, 32, finished with 23:31.5, crushing his time last year of 31:21.8, and ranking 966.
Lieutenant Adam Morse, FF/PM, 37, finished at 25:31.7, improving his time last year of 26:32.5, ranking 1,162.
Volunteer FF Matt Fields, 35, came in at 29:09.7, ranking 1,413.
Overall, the team placed 138 out of 252 in preliminary results.
The KPFD firefighters each carried a photo of longtime volunteer Bill Jones, a recent lymphoma survivor.
Participants must raise a minimum of $300 in donations to make the climb. The 2026 team had raised $2,600 by press time with donations still coming in, Nesbit said.
The event raised $2,373,059 of its $3 million goal by race time. Firefighters have raised over $23 million since the first LLS stair climb in 1991.
To donate to the KPFD team, go to https://pages.lls.org/events/wa/firefighterstairclimb26/KeyPeninsulaFireDepartment
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