CLEVELAND, Ohio – Saturday was a good time to reflect on exactly how selfless firefighters are as dozens of them scaled the inside of the Tower at Erieview to benefit Ronald McDonald House.
They were not alone because a thousand were expected to participate by running or walking up 725 steps traversing 37 floors.
But most of the participants got to wear T-shirts and shorts. The men and women who risk their lives everyday helping people wore their work clothes.
Jason Bostic of the Fredericktown, Ohio fire department said that his helmet, air tank, boots, bunker pants and turnout coat weigh 40 pounds — which he described as light because the gear can weigh 65 pounds or more.
Some also wore their re-breather masks.
In all there were more than 20 departments represented – each sending six to 12 firefighters.
A Cleveland EMS paramedic said no one had to be transported Saturday, which was true of the last three years as well. So a pristine gurney on the ground floor remained in that condition all day.
Consider that during the great blackout of 2003, a Cleveland EMS crew had to haul their gurney up the stairs to the top floor of the Cuyahoga County Jail so they could retrieve a female prisoner who claimed to be going into labor.
The people at Erieview on Saturday got to take elevators down from the summit after serving a good cause.
The non-profit Ronald McDonald House (RMH) of Cleveland provides a homelike setting for families of children receiving medical treatment at area hospitals. In addition to the 55-room House on Euclid Avenue, RMH offers families of pediatric patients a comfortable space to rest and recharge at Ronald McDonald Family Rooms at Cleveland Clinic Children’s, Fairview Hospital, MetroHealth Medical Center, and UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s.
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