Newport Firefighters Fight for Air in Providence

Think running up almost 30 floors of stairs is hard? Try doing it in a fire suit and 50 pounds of gear.

Derek Crossman, Tom Welch, Andrew Loftus, Dan Young and Marcus Cochran will be racing up 29 floors in Providence on Saturday for the “Fight for Air” stair climb race to benefit the American Lung Association. 

Do the math: 29 floors is 58 flights at 20 steps each. That's 575 steps in total, which the firefighters must do with all the gear on that they would normally wear to a fire, including an airmask and oxygen tank, helmet and boots. 

The team will join firefighters from across Rhode Island in the race to the top, as well as the race to fight lung cancer, COPD, asthma and other lung diseases. Crossman said he hopes that his team can make their goal of making it to the top in under six minutes.

The team's fundraising goal was to raise $1,000. As of Thursday, they have already passed that benchmark, raising approximately $1,150. This is everyone's first year doing the race, Crossman said.

“We've got some swimmers on the team," he noted. "Some exercise at the station and stair climb at the gym, but that isn't as close to how hard it really is."

The team has been training by running up the flights stairs at the

Welch's son, Tommy Welch, will be competing against Newport on the Middletown squad, “so there may be some father-son rivaly,” Crossman said.

Regarding a strategy, Crossman said the key is to mix up the pace and go up the stairs in fast and slow increments, using the railings. 

“It doesn't matter how you do it, you just have to get to the top,” he said.

To make a donation, visit the team's web page or drop off a check at the fire department's headquarters on Marlborough Street.