SANDPOINT — Hot, cakey goodness, dripping with maple syrup with maybe a few blueberries or huckleberries added in for good measure. What’s not to love about pancakes?

Saturday, Selkirk Fire is organizing a pancake breakfast fundraiser from 7-11 a.m. at Evans Brothers Coffee Roaster in Sandpoint. Heart Bowls Food Truck will be providing the pancake bar — gluten- and dairy-free options available — and Selkirk firefighters will serving the pancakes. The fundraiser is by donations, with all proceeds going to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

The pancake breakfast is part of an ongoing fundraising effort by Selkirk Fire, Rescue & EMS, which is participating in the 29th annual LLS Firefighter Stairclimb on Sunday, March 8. Proceeds from the climb support of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

“Before we ascend the Columbia Center in downtown Seattle, we are raising funds throughout the season in the name of funding and finding a cure,” said Selkirk firefighter Gwen Le Tutour. “We need our community to help us achieve our fundraising goal to benefit patients and their families everywhere.”

So far, Selkirk firefighters have raised $8,825 and hope to raise a total of $18,000 and they need the community’s help to make it happen, Le Tutour said.

Each year, local firefighters wearing more than 60 pounds of turnout gear join firefighters from around the world to take on the 69 flights of stairs, 1,356 steps and 788 feet of elevation of Seattle’s Columbia Center in March.

“The LLS Firefighter Stairclimb is the world’s largest on-air stair climb competition, and annual fundraiser held at the tallest building in town, the Columbia Center,” Le Tutour said. “All 2,000 participants are career, volunteer, or retired firefighters who will climb up the second tallest skyscraper west of the Mississippi in full turnout gear, weighing over 60 pounds, while on-air.

Throughout this grueling course, he said the firefighters remember that every step forward is representative of moving closer to a cure. “Although this is an extreme test of physical endurance, it pales in comparison to what blood cancer patients endure,” he added.

Since its inception in 1991, the stairclimb has raised over $20 million.

With 10 Selkirk and Northside firefighters training for the 29th annual stairclimb competition, it’s the largest group from the community to take part in the annual climb. Local firefighters began taking part in the stairclimb 12 years ago when a crew of three made the trek over to Seattle to compete.

“It’s become kind of a thing in the fire department and everyone kind of wants to get on the team and be a part of the fundraising cause,” said Selkirk firefighter Clint Frank, another of the team, earlier this month. “It really keeps the guys accountable year-round because it is a brutal climb.”

This year’s team includes Le Tutour, Frank, Jeff Littlefield, Allo Pucci, Britian Whitley, Zach Pohl, Tim Coles, Tennille Toussaint, Ethan Colby, and Solan Wolf.

In 2019, the event featured more than 2,000 firefighters from around the world who raised a record $2.9 million for LLS. In addition to raising funds, it is a competition, and the top climber with Selkirk Fire — Le Tutour — has made it into the top 25 for the past two years in a row. Frank wasn’t far behind, finishing about a minute behind to finish just out of the top 50 firefighters. Overall, the Selkirk team finished in the top 25 out of about 110-120 teams taking part in the event.

Donations can also be made online through Selkirk’s team page at http://bit.ly/2ttx4sX. The link to the donation page can also be found on Selkirk’s website at selkirkfire.com.

Caroline Lobsinger can be reached by email at clobsinger@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @CarolDailyBee.