For the second year in a row, the Sterling Heights Fire Fighters won the Fight for Air Climb put on by the American Lung Association and held at the Detroit Renaissance Center.
Over 1300 people took part in the event, including over 400 Firefighters who competed in the 71 floor climb in their full firefighting gear with an air pack on their back.
The Firefighters compete in teams made up of at least three members from each department. The best three times from each team combine for a cumulative time and the team with the best cumulative time wins the event. Firefighter Scott Widzinski, who was competing for his first time, took first place of all Firefighters with his time of 11minutes 11 seconds. Combined with Lieutenant Dave Pressel’s overall third place score of 11 minutes 25 seconds and Firefighter Jonathan Ponte’s overall tenth place score of 12 minutes 33 seconds, the Sterling Heights Fire Fighter’s team had a cumulative time of 35 minutes 10 seconds. This score beat second place Birmingham Firefighters by over 2 minutes, with their score of 37 minutes 43 seconds.
Sterling Heights Fire Fighters put together a team of 25 participants, led by Team Captain Jason Myers, not including the seven wives who competed as a team.
This is great comradery not only among each team, but between fellow Firefighters who all gain a better appreciation about the importance of staying in great physical shape for this strenuous job. More importantly, it is all for a great cause, the American Lung Association. Team members are required to raise money for the ALA and teams even compete to see which team can raise the most money for such a worthy cause.