Community Snapshot: Scott Firefighter Stairclimb

Firefighters from around the world came to Seattle Sunday to climb the second-tallest building west of the Mississippi.

The Columbia Center is 788 feet of vertical elevation, 69 flights of stairs and 1,311 steps to reach the highly acclaimed observation deck overlooking the city. The Scott Firefighter Stairclimb supports the mission of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, raising money through sponsorships, individual and department fundraising, and entry fees.

Renton Fire and Emergency Services Battalion Chief Stan Engler not only led all local firefighters from Renton, but won the Chiefs Division with a time of 13:29. He also placed third in the Masters Divisions and 13th overall out of a total of 1,550 firefighters.

Other local finishers included (regardless of time, all firefighters completed the climb):

• Jessi Nemens (Kent Regional Fire Authority) of Renton placed 6th overall in the female division, and second in her age division, 17:26.
• Stan Engler (Renton Fire) placed  3rd in the Masters Division, and 13th overall, 13:29
• Michael Hudson (Renton Fire) placed 9th overall in the Masters Division, and 32nd overall, 14:07.
• Josh Brown (Renton Fire) and team captain placed 30th overall, 14:05.
• Sahl Martin (Renton Fire) placed 115th overall, 15:48.
• Chuck Hawley (Renton Fire) placed 209th overall, 16:43.
• Justin Olney (Renton Fire) placed 252nd overal,l 17:08.
• Dan Alexander (Renton Fire) placed 344th overall, 17:49.
• Daniel Powell (Renton Fire placed 374th overall, 18:02.
• Donovan Eckhardt (Renton Fire) placed 610th overall, 19:55.
• Josh Swidler (KCFD 20) placed 676th overall, 20:35.
• Marcus Rismiller (Renton Fire) placed 697th overall, 20:45.
• Keith Adams (Renton Fire) placed 707th overall, 20:50.
• Andrew Plumlee (Renton Fire) placed 762nd overall, 21:18.
• Patrick Stalnaker (Renton Fire) placed 815th overall, 21:44.
• Chris Cline (Renton Fire) placed 824th overall, 21:49.
• Chris Krystofiak (Renton Fire) placed 1021st overall, 23:49.
• Brian Estibal (Renton Fire) placed 1158th overall, 25:55.
• Justin Cox (Renton Fire) placed 1186th overall, 26:18.
• Tyler Eliason (KCFD 20) placed 1233rd overall, 27:00.

The Renton Fire and Emergency Services team placed fourth overall with a time of 41:41, more than three seconds faster than last year's team time of 44:24. As of March 11, Renton firefighters have raised $14,165 and the KCFD 20 firefighters have raised $3,975.