SAUGUS — Four Saugus firefighters and one Nahant firefighter are teaming up to raise money for the American Lung Association in the annual Fight for Air Climb in February.
The firefighters will race up 41 flights of stairs in downtown Boston in the hopes of raising more than $2,500 to help fight lung disease.
Capt. Christopher Rizza and firefighter John Rescigno are co-captains of the team which also includes firefighters Richard Ragucci, DJ Blandini and Nahant firefighter Jonathan Tibbo.
“It’s a way to raise money and help build awareness for lung disease and other sorts of lung disorders that are brought on by air pollution, smoking ”¦” said Rescigno. “Each participant is required to raise at least $100 and you set a team goal which is above that.”
Fire departments from across Massachusetts will converge on 1 Boston Place on Feb. 2 for the climb as the American Lung Association is looking to raise $365,000.
Rescigno, Rizza and Ragucci raised close to $3,000 at last year’s event, which Rescigno said was a fun time for everyone involved.
“There were a lot of fire departments from the state and a lot of teams that take it really seriously,” said Rescigno. “It gives us a chance to all get together and do something we really don’t get to do. With departments like us, you don’t really have the high-rises.”
Rizza said the team will start training this week, which is a lot later than last year, when firefighters trained for three months, slowly adding gear as the weeks passed.
“We’re going to start off hard and make it hurt for a little while,” said Rizza.
Rizza said the team was well-prepared last year and now that firefighters know what to expect, things should go a little smoother this year.
“It was kind of a learning experience because none of us had ever done it before so we didn’t know quite what to expect,” said Rizza. “You’re glad to be done, that’s for sure, but I think we were well-prepared last year, maybe even a little over-prepared. I thought it was going to be really bad and it wasn’t quite as bad as I envisioned.”
With the addition of newcomers Blandini and Tibbo, Rescigno said he’s confident the team can eclipse last year’s total.
“We’re in the process of getting three more in addition to DJ so we’re trying to get them on the team too,” said Rescigno. “The more the better.”
To prepare for the event, the team has been training at Laurel Towers. At just eight stories, the 100-unit apartment building on Rice Street is the tallest in Saugus, which makes it the perfect location to train.
“We run that 10 times in our gear to get ready,” said Rescigno. “Last year the way we trained we would just go up and down and up and down as fast as we could. But you do have to pace yourself with it and kind of get a steady rhythm. You don’t really need to go as fast as you can. As long as you pace yourself you can get a good time.”
Rescigno finished in just over 11 minutes last year, while Rizza finished at 9:45 and Ragucci at just over 12 minutes.
“I was actually pretty surprised with my time,” said Rescigno. “We finished in the middle of the pack. We weren’t expecting to come in and win or anything the first year but we definitely reached our goal.”
So far the firefighters have raised a little over $700. If anyone is interested in donating to the team they can do so by visiting action.lung.org/goto/saugusfire.
Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].
