SFCC Art teacher Simon Simpson recently ran up 28 flights of stairs at the Crown Metropol Hotel with 25kg of firefighting kit while breathing from an apparatus on his back, all to raise money for mental health and cancer research.

With his team from the Country Fire Authority (CFA) Bacchus Marsh Brigade, Simon joined the annual Melbourne Firefighter Stair Climb. The brigade raised $11,000, contributing to the $750,000 total, which will go to Lifeline, the Peter MacCallum Cancer Foundation and 000 Foundation.

Simon has been a CFA member for more than eight years. But the only thing burning for this fireman on the day of the stair climb was his legs after completing the race in seven minutes and 20 seconds.