UPDATED March 4: The stairclimb has been postponed due to the coronavirus. A new date has not yet been set.

Great Falls firefighters are again climbing the 69 flights and 1,365 steps at the Columbia Center in downtown Seattle in full turnout gear to raise money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Since 2010, Great Falls firefighters have raised at least $110,000 for LLS, according to J.D. Kulbeck, a GFFR firefighter who will be climbing for the 12th time on March 8.

Great Falls firefighters participating in stairclimb fundraiser again this March (2018)

“I think that is a pretty big deal. That’s a lot of money,” Kulbeck said.

The money raised for the stairclimb supports blood cancer research and patient services, according to LLS.

Kulbeck has set an individual goal of $7,500 fundraising goal and the GFFR team has already raised $8,255 this year.

The GFFR team includes Kulbeck, J.D. Kulbeck, Steven Luwe and Ryan Olson.

They’re doing another fundraiser Feb. 28 at the Hi Ho Tavern.

It’s a fun event to raise awareness, raise money and keep them in shape, Kulbeck said.

“It’s a great camaraderie thing,” he said.

Kulbeck is climbing this year in honor of a local who died from cancer in 2019 and Olson is climbing in honor of his mother, a cancer survivor.

All of the GFFR firefighers will have Jason Baker’s photo on their helmet, even though he didn’t have a blood cancer.

“Cancer is cancer,” Kulbeck said.

Memorial, reception and celebration of life planned for firefighter Jason Baker

Baker was a firefighter with Great Falls Fire Rescue for 17.5 years before cancer forced his retirement. He was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in October 2016 and retired from GFFR in 2017.

He continued fighting at the Montana Legislature for laws that would provide presumptive coverage for certain conditions that firefighters are at greater risk to develop due to their job.

Baker died in 2019.