Local firefighters take on the Stair Climb Challenge

AROUND 600 firefighters and emergency service personnel across Australia stormed up the stairway of Crown Metropol Hotel on Saturday, September 10 to raise funds and awareness for mental health.

Local firefighters, Josh Palmer, Brenton Doyle-Smith and Kent Robertson were among them.

This year’s Melbourne Firefighter Stair Climb challenge was held as an in-person event for the first time since 2019.
CFA firefighters joined participants from all over Australia to kit up in 25kgs of turnout and breathing apparatus gear and scale 28 floors together, raising funds for Lifeline, Fortem and the 000Foundation in the process.

This year’s challenge raised a total of more than $500,000 to improve support services, fund research, remove stigmas and raise awareness for mental health issues such as depression, PTSD and suicide.

CFA climbers were joined by members from FRV, FFMVic, Victoria Police, South Australian Country Fire Service, Fire and Emergency New Zealand, Fire and Rescue NSW, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, Tasmania Fire Service and Western Australia’s Department of Fire and Rescue Services joined virtually.

Since its inception in 2014, the Melbourne Firefighter Stair Climb has raised more than $3 million, benefitting Alfred Hospital Burns Unit, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Lifeline, Black Dog Institute, Emergency Services Foundation and 000Foundation.

To donate or learn more about the Melbourne Firefighter Stair Climb, visit firefighterclimb.org.au

To donate to the Alexandra team’s efforts, visit firefighterclimb.org.au/station/cfa/alexandra

At the time this post was published, the Alexandra team had raised $2840. Congratulations on a great effort.