22 Richland firefighters to participate in Seattle skyscraper stairclimb

Twenty-two firefighters from the city of Richland will race to the top of Seattle’s tallest skyscraper March 6 in an annual event to raise money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

The Richland firefighters, including Chief Tom Huntington, are participating in the Scott Firefighter Stairclimb in honor of Dean Neshem.

The 35-year-old Richland resident has been battling “Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma” for almost two years, according to a city news release.

The event starts at 8 a.m. and typically draws teams from across the U.S. and world.

Wearing full gear and breathing apparatus, the firefighters climb 69 flights of stairs — 1,356 steps — to reach the observation deck at the Columbia Center.

The former Bank of America tower has a vertical elevation of 788 feet, and is the second tallest building west of the Mississippi.

More information, including a live stream, is available on the event website.

This story was originally published March 5, 2016 at 8:47 PM with the headline "22 Richland firefighters to participate in Seattle skyscraper stairclimb."