Four of Westlock County’s finest were in Calgary April 29 for the fourth annual Firefighter Stairclimb Challenge, ascending 1,204 steps in 20 kilograms of full gear to climb 55 stories of the Bow Tower.
First-timers Pamela Volzke, Shauna Miller and Drew Beattie joined Corey Sagstuen for his second climb to raise $3,375 for the Firefighters Assistance Charitable Society (FACS) and Wellspring Calgary. Both charities provide assistance to people living with cancer and their caregivers.
“Everyone was climbing for different people and different reasons,” said Beattie.
“Usually for someone they’ve lost, but also for friends and family who are fighting cancer. Corey had gone last year and brought it to the department. Since he was going down again, he wanted to get a team and we just joined in.”
Each member of the team made the climb individually.
Sagstuen, who improved his time to the top by five minutes from 27 minutes last year, carried a white chief’s helmet in memory of his mother, who passed away Sept. 7, 2017 after a seven-year long battle with cancer.
“I presented her with her helmet and dedicated it to her prior to our climb last year,” he said.
“So she was very much a part of the climb. I told her after that we would do it again next year and every year for her. We made her an honourary firefighter for what she went through, everything she did in battling that disease is the same courage it takes for a firefighter to go into a burning building to get somebody. She put a lot of guts into it.
“So this year I carried her helmet all the way to the top. That was my tribute, just to be a little closer to mom.”
Volske, Sagstuen’s fiancee, climbed for her aunt Yvonne Litke, who passed away from cancer several years ago.
“It’s physically the hardest thing I’ve ever done and mentally it was the most rewarding,” she said.
“I was completely exhausted when I finished. I just kept telling myself I would meet my auntie at the top. I was determined, I was going to the top. And I’m going to do it again next year, for sure.”
There are 16 cancers currently linked to workplace hazards encountered by firefighters, including leukemia, lymphoma and cancers of the brain, bladder, kidneys, and lungs.
To prepare for the climb, the team used the stairs at the Rotary Spirit Centre three times a week to get ready for the climb, making sure to clock as many steps as they would encounter in Calgary.
“We don’t have buildings that big out here,” joked Beattie, noting the extra training paid off. “The climb was tough, but not as bad as I expected.”
He added it was important to show solidarity with other firefighters who put their lives on the line across the province.
In total, the stair climb raised $341,222 to help patients combat cancer.
The Bow Tower is the tallest building in western Canada and the Calgary stair climb was inspired by a similar event in Seattle.
Sagstuen said he would keep doing the climb as long as his body would let him.
“That was the promise I made my mom. Every year we will do this. I will continue to do it until I no longer can climb that tower and when I can’t, I’ll take the elevator to the top because I’m not stopping,” he said. “I’ll probably be one of the only 80-year-old firefighters doing it, but I will be there.”
