Community Corner

Farmington Hills Firefighters Earn Fundraising Trophy

Donning full gear, the local emergency workers climbed 70 flights for the American Lung Association.

On March 6, two groups of Farmington Hills firefighter donned their helmets and full gear, then climbed 70 flights of stairs to the top of the Renaissance Center in Detroit.

On Tuesday, representatives of the American Lung Association (ALA) delivered a trophy to one of those teams, for raising the most money in the ALA's Fight for Air Climb. Battalion Chief Bruce Belsky, Inspectors Ryan Munsell, Nick Hippler, Bryan Hewitt, Matt Migliore and Jamie Neufeld, along with Neufeld's son Tyler, 11, accepted the award at , for raising $2,130.

According to ALA development director Jessie Jimenez-Schlicht, Detroit is one of the nation's top 10 fundraising climbs. The event raised $181,000, which will be used in Michigan for research, education, advocacy, support of the state's smoke-free law and other local programs.

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"This year was the first year for the firefighter challenge," she said, before handing over the trophy, a fire helmet mounted on a plaque. The team will hold the trophy until the next event in March 2012. "There are already teams that are gunning for them."

Hippler had the fastest time: 13 minutes, 13 seconds. He said he trained for the event, "and being young, that was on my side." Still, Hippler said, "It was probably the hardest 13 minutes and 13 seconds of my life. I'm thankful we don't have many high rises (in Farmington Hills)."

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Jimenez-Schlicht said the stairwells at the Renaissance Center get warmer the higher the climbers go, and having more than 100 people climbing just adds to the heat. Munsell said the firefighters encouraged each other on the way up; if one dropped to a knee, another would pat him on the shoulder and make sure he was okay.

He and other firefighters commented that receiving the award so close to the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York gave them a new appreciation for what New York firefighters faced at the World Trade Center.

"They climbed with their gear, hoses and tools," Hippler said. "This really put into perspective how tough it was."

And after climbing, Munsell said, "they had to fight fires. We just went up there and sat in an air conditioned room and had some Gatorade."

Belsky said the group's largest donation came from Pressure Vessel Testing, a company in Roseville that does hydro-static testing for the department.

The 2012 Fight for Air Climb registration is already open, at climbdetroit.org Anyone who wants to help can either sign up to climb, or make a donation.

Naturally, the Farmington Hills Career Firefighters already have their page posted.

Correction: In the original version of this story, Battalion Chief Bruce Belsky's name and Jessie Jimenez-Schlicht's name were incorrectly reported.


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