Sam Owen, Ryan Sims, and Ryan McCormick raised $19,110.00 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society through the Scott Firefighter Stair Climb. The three firefighters solicited donations, held a raffle and raised $2,175 in the KVAK Cake Auction. The three Valdez Firefighters climbed the Columbia Center in downtown Seattle. It takes 69 flights of stairs and 1,356 steps to reach the highly acclaimed observation deck overlooking the City. And the firefighters must complete the climb in full structural turnout gear while on-air.

In 2018, the event featured 2,000 firefighters from over 330 different departments and eight countries. Sims made the climb is a little over 15 minutes. Fatra Allen, Steve Husband and Grace Huhndorf didn’t climb in Seattle, but faced the myriad of fundraising and logistics on the ground that made the event successful for the Valdez firefighters.