Crime & Safety

Bellevue Firefighters Conquer 69 Flights of Columbia Tower

Bellevue firefighter Camari Olson finished 10th out of 134 female participants, and Chris Archer placed 15th overall.

Bellevue 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.

Bellevue's top finisher was Chris Archer, with a time of 13:14—or an average of 12 seconds per flight. Archer finished 15th out of a total of 1,473 participants and fifth in his age division.

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Bellevue firefighter Camari Olson placed 10th among female finishers, completing the climb with a time of 19:18—a 17-second flight average—and finishing second in her age group.

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.

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Along with Archer and Olson, other finishers from Bellevue include:

Kerry Doran, 18:26, 17 seconds per flight

Scott Symons, 18:46, 17 seconds per flight

Charlie Kimball, 18:48, 17 seconds per flight

Mark Pan, 18:53, 17 seconds per flight

Eric Rickert, 19:33, 17 seconds per flight

Rich Burke, 20:08, 18 seconds per flight

Brian Regalado, 20:10, 18 seconds per flight

Paul Hyatt, 21:00, 19 seconds per flight

Mike Williams, 21:34, 19 seconds per flight

Andrew Schneider, 21:44, 19 seconds per flight

Marcus Howle, 31:49, 28 seconds per flight

Jeff Negrete, 31:56, 28 seconds per flight


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