POCATELLO — Six Pocatello firefighters, including Jordan Peterson and Tab Flemming, are going to the Scott Firefighter Stairclimb in Seattle this weekend.

This stairclimb competition is the largest in the world.

All of the proceeds and money raised by competing firefighters go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for blood cancer research and to help offset costs for cancer patients affected by leukemia and lymphoma.

“This is a direct impact to patients not only through the goal to cure cancer, but to help them while we try to cure cancer,” Peterson said.

The six Pocatello firefighters who will be competing will be Peterson, Flemming, assistant chief Andy Holmes, Sean Hunter, Jordan Van Every and Shane Siler.

In Seattle, they will climb the Columbia Center, one of the tallest buildings on this side of the Mississippi River. Each firefighter climbs 1,356 steps, or 69 flights.

This is an on-air stairclimb, so all of the firefighters competing wear their full gear with an oxygen tank that has 45 minutes of air. However, this air goes away much faster while climbing up the stairs.

The extra weight they each carry comes to about 60 pounds.

Most firefighters who compete do a bottle switch, so once they get to a certain point, they switch out their tanks for a fresh one, but the Pocatello firefighters will be climbing on one tank.

“(It) makes it even harder because you have to focus not only on how fast you’re going, because you want to go fast, but you have to realize that you only have so much air you’re breathing in,” Flemming said. “So the faster you go, the more air you’re going to use, the faster it’s going to go down, so there’s a balance that you have to hit.”

Peterson said, “You just start getting into this mindset of, ‘I just have to move my feet,’ and if you stop, it’s twice as hard to get started again.”

“You’re pretty exhausted by the time you get up,” Flemming said, “but it’s pretty euphoric at the same time once you get up to the top, just that feeling of accomplishment once you get up there.”

Peterson has gone to the event for four years, and Flemming has gone once. Peterson’s times have been around the 18-minute mark. Flemming’s time his first year was 15:40.

They each sponsor a leukemia or lymphoma patient and individually raise money for the organization. Peterson himself has raised $2,000.

Together, they’ve raised $5,346 online and $1,500 dollars in checks.

Flemming is sponsoring a boy from northwestern Montana named Wacee Simenson.

“He wasn’t feeling very good, and so his parents took him in to see the doctor, and they end up finding a mass in his chest that was the size of a football,” Flemming said about the time when Wacee was diagnosed.

Wacee is 7 years old and Flemming personally knows him. He spoke to the boy’s strength and how much he admires him.

Flemming said that the Wacee’s tumor is shrinking and they’re seeing progress.

Peterson is sponsoring the late Cassi Schroeder. Peterson knew her before she passed, and he also spoke to how much he admires her.

“I’ve known Cassi since high school,” Peterson said. “She was one of my closest friends. She was the center of attention, life of the party, and the one who made every person feel like they were important. Even though it was a devastating thing, she still tried to make sure everybody felt comfortable.”

Cassi left behind a family of two kids and a husband.

Peterson and Flemming both spoke to how important it is that people donate to the cause. Even though the stairclimb will be held Sunday, people can still donate until March 30.

“The people that are donating, they’re making a difference in people’s lives, and that’s huge. That’s absolutely paramount,” Peterson said.