Shoreline Firefighters Compete in Columbia Tower Climb

Brett Defenbaugh finished 71st overall out of 1,550 firefighters in theScott Firefighter Stairclimb fundraiser yesterday in Seattle.

Defenbaugh, 37, climbed the steps of the Columbia Center – Seattle’s tallest building – in 15 minutes, 5.95 seconds. He was 12th in the men's 35-39 category.

That’s 1,311 steps, or 788 feet, all while donning some more than 50 pounds of firefighter gear.

The top finisher in the 20th annual event, which benefits The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, was Kory Burgess of Missoula (MT) Rural Fire. He finished in a event record 10 minutes, 53 seconds. He has won the competition twice before.

Sabine Arnold, 44, finished 15th overall among women with a time of 19:28.60. She was sixth in the women's 40-44 category and 469th overall.

Also competing from Shoreline was John Henson, 39, who finished 346th overall in 18:25.59. He was 337th overall among men, and 52nd in the men's 35-39 category.

Shoreline's Andy Holstad, 58, who was 494th overall, finishing in 19:41.10, took seventh in the men's 55-59 age bracket. 

Shoreline's team place, which takes into account the department's three fastest times, was 55th out of 118 departments with a total time of 53 minutes, 0.14 seconds.