Golden Valley Firefighter Ready To Gear Up For 52-Story Climb

Golden Valley Firefighter Ready To Gear Up For 52-Story Climb

Golden Valley Fire Department Battalion Chief Ken Bence will strap on about 60 pounds of firefighting gear this Saturday. And while his boots, helmet and air tank make it look like he’s headed out on a fire call, he’ll actually be raising money for a cause that hits close to home.

The American Lung Association’s Fight for Air Climb is headed to the Capella Tower in Minneapolis. During the event, firefighters will climb 52 stories in their full gear, raising money for the nonprofit.

“We’ll have a couple hundred at least firefighters there on Saturday huffing and puffing up 52 stories,” Bence said.

He’s participated in the event for the last 18 years.

“My profession is in the health care field, so I really value the work that organizations like the [American] Lung Association does,” Bence said. “My dad passed away from lung disease and my wife is an asthmatic. And so the mission of the Lung Association is important to me.”

Bence is part of a team of five Golden Valley firefighters suiting up for this year’s event.

He hopes to finish the event in about twenty minutes or a half-hour.

“We all have different levels of fitness — I’ve been training for a couple of months working up to this,” Bence said. “As firefighters, we really are expected to kind of maintain a level of fitness.”

In nearly two decades, the Golden Valley Fire Department has raised more than $100,000 for the American Lung Association.

“We’re very proud of that here,” Bence said. “It’s a good team-building exercise for us as a department. We train for it together, and it’s fun to gather with a couple hundred firefighters on the day of the climb.”

The Fight for Air Climb runs from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Capella Tower in Minneapolis.

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SOURCE: CCX MEDIA