Redmond Firefighters Conquer 69 Flights of Columbia Tower

Redmond 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.

Redmond's top finisher was Joshua Peeples, with a time of 16:29—or an average of 15 seconds per flight. Peeples finished 178th out of a total of 1,473 participants and 45th out of 271 in his age division.

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 Peeples, other finishers from Redmond include:

Roger Stubblefield, 17:05, 15 seconds per flight

Michael Waite, 19:09, 17 seconds per flight

Ralph Ashmore, 19:51, 18 seconds per flight

Jim Odell, 21:28, 19 seconds per flight

Matthew Nelson, 24:18, 22 seconds per flight

David Cobb, 32:02, 28 seconds per flight

Stan Noble, 32:14, 29 seconds per flight

John Simon, 32:25, 29 seconds per flight

Shannon Norman, 33:14, 29 seconds per flight