Lynne Mowbray | On Saturday October 20, around 600 Fire+ Rescue NSW (FRNSW) fire fighters took part in the firies climb to raise money and awareness for Motor Neurone Disease (MND) at Sydney Tower Eye. Six fire fighters from the Clarence Valley travelled to Sydney to take part in this year’s event: Grafton FRNSW members – Martin and William Boyd and Scott Purnell and Maclean FRNSW – Boyd Moore, Andrew Tom and Sam Headon have been training and fund raising in the lead up to Saturday’s climb which was carried out in full kit (uniform) weighing just over 20kgs. The climb was 98 floors; a total of 1504 steps. The Maclean crew have been in training since earlier in the year, climbing the stairs at the Maclean showground. This training appears to have paid off with the Maclean crew finishing the climb in 17 minutes. Final results were: Maclean FRNSW – Boyd Moore came 67th out of the 600 climbers in a time of 17min 18 sec. Andrew Tom 68/600 -17min 25sec Sam Headon 85/600 – 17min 46sec. Grafton FRNSW Martin Boyd 424/600 – 32min 07sec William Boyd 439/600 – 33min 51sec Scott Purnell 432/600 – 32min 43sec. Both brigades fundraising efforts paid off with the Grafton crew raising over $10,000 and Maclean $7,200. The total money raised by the 600 fire fighters involved this year was over $673,000. Spokesperson for Maclean FRNSW Andrew Tom said that they wished to thank everyone who donated and supported their fundraising events. “We’d also like to say a special thanks to The Independent for the advertising in the lead up to the climb,” Mr Tom said.