Bamawm Extension Fire Brigade firefighter Nathan Shaw is doing the 2025 Melbourne Firefighter Stair Climb in the memory of brigade member Nathan Taylor, who died in a Murray River boating accident in January.
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When Nathan Shaw starts climbing the 28 floors of the Crown Metropol on September 6 he will be carrying a much bigger load than the 25kg of structural turnout and breathing apparatus gear he will be wearing.
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Because the 24-year-old Bamawm Extension Fire Brigade volunteer has dedicated his first attempt at the Melbourne Firefighter Stair Climb to the memory of Nathan Taylor, a 23-year-old member of his brigade who died in a boating accident on the Murray River near Five Mile boat ramp in January.
Mr Shaw said his fellow firey and friend had done the annual climb just months before his death, raising $1000 to go towards Lifeline and the Peter Mac and 000 foundations.
“It is a legacy I would like to keep going, in his memory, and I am pretty sure the community would as well,” he said.
And according to his fundraising page on the stair climb site, he’s right.
Mr Shaw, a third lieutenant at Bamawm Extension, said his initial goal was to match the $1000 his late friend had raised in 2024.
“I hit that target on the first day my page was activated,” he said.
Bamawm Extension Fire Brigade firefighter Nathan Shaw has two more months to prepare for the 28 floors of this year’s Melbourne Firefighter Stair Climb at Crown Metropol in Melbourne.
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“I was stunned, just couldn’t believe it, so I upped my target to $5000 — and hit that on June 10. It’s just kept going.
“Now I have increased it to $7500 and if people want to help me get to that number — or beyond — it would be an amazing tribute to Nathan as well.
“If it goes even further that’s even better because the groups it will be helping are all so important.”
The 28 floors of the climb represent about 500 steps, which doesn’t seem a lot except for all that gear the firefighters will be wearing.
Mr Shaw weighs 80kg wringing wet, so will be lumping close to an extra third his bodyweight up every one of the 500 steps with him.
As there are not many two-storey buildings between Bamawm Extension and Echuca, let alone 28 stories, he has been working hard on the stair master at Anytime Fitness (although he hasn’t been game to turn up there in his full firefighting rig yet) and has done some time on the stairs at Vic Park.
“I’ve never done anything like this before, I’m not too sure about it now,” Mr Shaw said with a smile.
“It’s a long way up, but for mine it is for two really good causes — the services the climb supports and Nathan Taylor’s memory.”
