George Esbensen, Eden Prairie Fire Chief

Two weeks ago 10 firefighters from Eden Prairie climbed up 30 floors (60 flights, 660 steps) while wearing fire gear and air packs. This was the annual Race Up The Place event for the American Lung Association. This was the 3^rd year firefighters from Eden Prairie have been doing it and the largest group so far. Climbers included: Ray Carlson, Jeff Dezenski, Andrew Hamilton, Kelly Hanink, Don Jensen, Braden Kohl, Katie Russell, Dave Thompson, Paul Welter, and Drew Zafft. The picture of all the climbers is below with the exception of firefighters Hanink and Russell. In addition to the great workout and team building the 10 firefighters also managed to raise over $1200.00 for their efforts! Nicely done!

This year Eden Prairie firefighters also competed in a challenge with other fire departments for the first time. They take the top four times from each department and Eden Prairie finished 4^th out of 9 departments (Eden Prairie’s top 4 times were each right around 8 minutes 20 seconds, or 17 seconds per floor). Minneapolis, Des Moines, and Eagan finished 1, 2 and 3. To put it in perspective, Minneapolis climbed at a rate of about 12 seconds per floor in gear.