Crime & Safety

Eastside Firefighters Conquer 69 Flights of Columbia Tower

Firefighter John Schreiber of Local 2878 finished 55th out of 1,473 firefighters to climb the 69 flights of the Columbia Tower on Sunday.

Eastside firefighters joined hundreds of fire departments from around the world in conquering all 69 flights and 1,311 steps of the Columbia Tower on Sunday as part of the Scott's Firefighter Challenge.

The annual event requires participants to tackle the grueling climb in full firefighting gear and supports the mission of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, raising money through sponsorships, individual and department fund-raising, and entry fees.

The top finisher from Firefighters Local 2878—which includes Eastside Fire & Rescue, Snoqualmie, Duvall and Fall City fire departments—was John Schreiber, with a time of 14:48—or an average of 13 seconds per flight. Schreiber finished 55th out of a total of 1,473 participants and eighth in his age division.

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Andrew Drobeck of Missoula (MT) City Fire placed first, finishing the tower in 10:48, or 10 seconds a flight average. The top female finisher was Georgia Sanz Daniels of Graham Fire & Rescue, with a time of 14:22, or 13 seconds per flight.

Along with Schreiber, other finishers from Eastside Fire & Rescue and Firefighters Local 2878 include:

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Brett Krache, 15:45, 14 seconds per flight

Tyler Austin, 16:33, 15 seconds per flight

Cody Turcotte, 17:00, 15 seconds per flight

John Houlihan, 17:00, 15 seconds per flight

Michael Tjosvold, 17:24, 16 seconds per flight

Troy Haigh, 17:58, 16 seconds per flight

Sonny Stewart, 18:19, 16 seconds per flight

Noah Foster, 18:52, 17 seconds per flight

Colin O'Brien, 19:21, 17 seconds per flight

Joseph White, 20:06, 18 seconds per flight

Ted Sittner, 20:21, 18 seconds per flight

Sean Ansell, 20:39, 18 seconds per flight

Jake Koehnen, 21:04, 19 seconds per flight

Jared Shoop, 21:57, 20 seconds per flight

Jason Stotler, 22:43, 20 seconds per flight

Berlin Maza, 23:01, 21 seconds per flight

Mike Wallace, 23:51, 21 seconds per flight

Jessica Hanna, 24:37, 22 seconds per flight

Dustin Jensen, 24:38, 22 seconds per flight

Adam Merritt, 25:11, 22 seconds per flight

Bill Wisham, 25:11, 22 seconds per flight

Scott Fleming, 25:19, 23 seconds per flight

Chris Stephen, 25:28, 23 seconds per flight

Josh Yancey, 26:24, 23 seconds per flight

Steve Bandy, 26:35, 24 seconds per flight

Jack Lewis, 26:48, 24 seconds per flight

Emily Harig, 28:07, 25 seconds per flight

Don Turner, 28:43, 25 seconds per flight

Ben Parker, 29:16, 26 seconds per flight

Kyle Walior, 39:45, 35 seconds per flight

Matthew Olander, 50:49, 45 seconds per flight


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