Simsbury Volunteer Fire Company Members Complete Stair Climb

The Simsbury Volunteer Fire Company team of Captain Todd Kelley, Lt. Rick Callahan, and Firefighters Ken Boudreau, Brian Tomaska and Victoria Williams competed in the 2019 Fight for Air Climb, a fundraiser for the American Lung Association. The team was the second-place fundraising team with $7,472.00. Kelley was fourth in individual fundraising, with $3,275.00 and Boudreau was sixth with $3,124.00.

Boudreau completed the 34 flights of stairs (688 stairs) with a time of 9:10 and was first in his age group while Williams was 7th among female firefighters with a time of 10:25.

Firefighters were required to compete in NFPA compliant structural firefighting gear, which meant climbing with the weight of full firefighting gear, including boots, helmets and breathing apparatus.

These are Boudreau’s 12th and 13th consecutive climbs in Hartford. This year he competed a second time for the Simsbury Emergency Services team, with a time of 6:29 without firefighting gear. Boudreau has also completed other stair climbs, including the Boston Fight for Air Climb. Held at One Boston Place, it is 41 flights of stairs.

This is Kelley’s third Hartford stair climb and he has competed at the Firehouse Expo and the Fire Department Instructor’s Conference.

The Hartford stair climb, held in one of Connecticut’s tallest buildings, Hartford 21, raised over $155,000 to fight lung disease.

The American Lung Association is the leading organization working on improving lung health and preventing lung disease, according to its website. Founded in 1904 to combat tuberculosis, they are the oldest voluntary health organization.