It's 69 floors. 1,311 steps. 788 vertical feet... and that's on a good day. This is the height 19 Bellevue Firefighters climbed in their battle against leukemia in the 2010 Columiba Tower Firefighters Climb against leukemia. 19 Bellevue Firefighter made the arduous climb including Firefighters'  Greg Clifford, Alexa Dillhoff, Rob Dykstra, Kevin Guitron, Marcus Howle, Kris Johnson, Nick Kramer, Don Martinell, Steve Medina, Camari Olson, Eric Pedeferri, Brian Regalado, John Rickerson, Andrew Schneider, Luke Steere, Jared Storer, Scott Symons, Mike WIlliams, and Deputy Chief Warren Merritt. Firefighter Eric Pedeferri held the fastest overall time for the Bellevue Firefighters conquering 69 floors in 15 minutes and 33 seconds. Bellevue Firefighter Camari Olson (a cancer survivor herself) completed the climb in 19 minutes and 13 seconds finishing top in her division. The Bellevue Firefighters climbed the tower wearing full firefighting gear including air tanks which they were breathing off. Over 1000 firefighters from across the region, nation, and even the world participated in the climb. Bellevue's contingent made a strong showing in the stairwell and raised a significant sum of donations for the battle against leukemia. It should be noted that Bellevue Firefighters perform this charity event on their own time with no reimbursement for their time and effort.
           
Firefighter Camari Olson's pink "fight  
cancer" helmet. The helmet was
provided by private funds and not paid
for by the Bellevue Fire Department.