LEETON'S firefighters are cool, calm and collected under pressure on the job and those are the qualities they intend to take into their next challenge.
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Emma Tyrrell, Kirk Walker, Ben Boots, Mathew Smith and Ethan Lord will be taking part in this year's Firies Climb for Motor Neurone Disease on November 9.
The group will be among hundreds of firefighters from across the state who will be climbing the iconic Sydney Tower Eye as quickly as possible in what is a gruelling trek up 98 floors and 1504 stairs.
Not only will they not be in any form of workout gear while doing so, the firefighters will be in their full uniform kit, they will each carry an extra 20 kilograms of equipment.
Last year Miss Tyrrell and Mr Boots took on the challenge, with former Leeton firefighter Kai Attree also taking part.
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Mr Attree has now moved away from Leeton, but will be climbing with another brigade and, in a show of friendly rivalry, the Leeton 360 firefighters are hoping to beat him up the stairs on the day.
"We've picked up our deputy captain (Kirk), Ethan and Mathew, so it should be good," Miss Tyrrell said.
"We had a good time last year and all the boys were keen to go again, so we thought we'd give it a go again and try and get a bit more money for MND.
"Last year we raised $15,000, but we did target a lot of businesses in town," Miss Tyrrell said.
"This year we don't really want to do that with the ongoing drought, so we can't really hit people up every year.
"We've decided to go more with fundraising activities like barbecues, we've having our Oktoberfest event again at the Wade and we're in the process of organising an emergency services day too.
"I think if each of us can raise about $2000 that would be really good."
The fearless firies will have a fundraising barbecue and demonstrations going on at the station on Saturday as part of the Australian Art Deco Festival's activities in Chelmsford Place.
Every dollar raised by the Leeton firefighters and their peers from across the state will be donated to Macquarie University's MND Research Centre.
The disease is a heartbreaking one and can seemingly strike down anyone - even if they appear fit and healthy.
The group have already started their training for the climb and will be continuing to step it up a notch as November 9 approaches.
In the meantime, residents wanting to donate to Leeton 360's cause can visit https://fundraise.firiesclimbformnd.org.au/page/Leeton3600.
The group can also be found on Facebook by searching Fire and Rescue NSW Station 360 Leeton and Leeton 360 MND climb 2019.
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