Hundreds stood still, silent, on Sunday during the annual Fight for Air Climb inside the Renaissance Center.
Moments before bagpipes echoed through the halls in honor of Ron Savage, the long-time Fox 2 newsman who died this week.
For nearly a minute dozens of firefighters stood with their heads down. From inside the lobby you could see the faces of hundreds of on-lookers standing by railing of the next three stories all remaining silence in Savage’s honor.
“Honestly, everything has changed,” said Bryan Berry, a firefighter with the Brighton Fire Department, the unit Savage served in before becoming a firefighter in Milford. “Ron Savage is on our hearts and minds.”
It wasn’t unusual to see Savage at the annual fundraiser for the American Lung Association. This Sunday he was expected to run in his full gear up 71 stories alongside other firefighters.
The fundraiser raises money that provides lifesaving education, research and advocacy. While it’s open to a variety of runners, many firefighters garner extra attention because they perform the race in their full gear — a reminder of the firefighters who performed similar feats on September 11th.
However, on Sunday hearts were a little heavier due to Savage’s death.
Brighton Fire Chief Matt Smith told 7 Action News that he told his fellow firefighters to keep Savage on their minds when they hit the hardest part of the challenge.
“He’s going to be motivation for us,” said Smith.
While 1,500 runners took part in Sunday’s race many said it was those running in Savage’s honor that stole the show.
Chief Smith ran with Savage’s bib attached to his arm. His time will be logged as Savage’s too. The bib is officially being retired so that no one else will ever wear it again.
“It’s a really rough one this year,” said Jessie Jimenez-Schlicht, an organizer for the event. “He was always so eager and honored to help even if he couldn’t physically climb because of his other day job duties, he’d still come out in his full gear.”
While there was added emotion during this year’s run, it didn’t change the goal. According to Jimenez-Schlicht, they were already on pace to hit the $400,000 goal they set before the race. It’d be the largest amount raised over the 11 year run of the fundraiser.
“Right now we have a big push locally and nationally to find a cure for lung cancer,” said Jimenez-Schlicht.
As for the Brighton firefighters, they were among some of the first finishers within the firefighter portion of the 1,050 stair climb. Already a top-10 fundraising squad across the entire country for the American Lung Association, the chief said it was a moment to truly be proud.
“We all kind of dug a little deeper and we realized we finished it just like Ron did in year’s past with us,” said Chief Smith.
