Half a dozen Swift Current Fire Department members travelled to Calgary on Sunday to test their fitness capabilities and honour fallen past teammates.

Swift Current's six representatives took on the 1,370 step Firefighter Stairclimb Challenge placing 10th in fundraising with almost $4,000 for Wellsprings Alberta - a cancer treatment centre.

Chris Haichert, a captain with the Swift Current Fire Department, said this was his fourth time climbing the 57-floor Brookfield Place building.

"Cancer is near and dear to us firefighters at our fire department," he said. "We've lost several members over the years due to that wicked disease. Kind of a nice way for us to show some support, raise money towards a good cause, and test our skills."

Connor Keys was the fastest member of the Swift Current team accomplishing the feat in 15:27 to finish 69th out of 423 participants. Darvin Giesbrecht completed it in 17:09, Keith McLeod finished it in 17:30, Colin Campbell attained it in 20:01, Haichert ended with a time of 20:26, and Duncan Jardine concluded the challenge in 20:55.

"It's a grind," he said. "You add 30-50 pounds of gear and the SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus) all on your back definitely makes it tough. That's what the firefighters like. They like being able to push themselves and ultimately the cause at the end of the rainbow is great."

Haichert said the crew that attended had been training for the competition for months and helped one of their firefighters lose 30-40 pounds in the process.

Corey Gulaga and Clayton Greenlay represented Shaunavon; while Herbert sent Mitch Froyman.