Four members of Cochrane Fire Services are hoping Cochranites will help them break their fundraising goal.

For the third year in a row Dave Levisky, Derek Orr, Chris Chyka, and Brad Hoey will gear up and climb 54 flights (1204 stairs) wearing 55-60lbs of gear.

The Firefighter Stair Climb Challenge is occurring May 7 where roughly 500 firefighters will run the stairs of Western Canada's tallest building, the BOW Building, with 100% proceeds going to support firefighters and citizens living with cancer.

Wellspring Calgary is the beneficiary of funds, and Chyka says they help individuals and families with the emotional, psychological, and practical side of cancer treatment.

"Wellspring is a support network for people going through active treatment. They will provide you with counselling, dietary instruction, so they are the support that probably doesn't get the same coverage, if you will, as active treatment does; everyone hears of chemotherapy (reagent treatment) but when people are going through these treatment regimes they need a support system and that is where Wellspring really comes in."

In preparation the local firefighters have been training since December and says three years later the challenge does not get any easier.

"It's a mental game at that point, just finishing. When you first get into the tower those first ten flights are murder; you are at standing start you hit the first ten and it's warm in there already, it's all glass so like running in a greenhouse. Those first ten take you from a resting heart rate of 80-100 to 140-150. It's a slug going up there."

The Cochrane firefighters have placed all their bets on Orr who ran it in 12:58 last year with the other members ranging from 15-18 minutes.

Last year the challenge raised roughly $170,000 in total for all runners, and this year the event hopes to break 200k; on the local level this year's fundraising goal has been set for $3000. 

The firefighters speak very highly of the work Wellspring does and say they know a number of people locally who have accessed services. If you can help the quartet reach their goal, go here and enter team name Cochrane Fire.