UPDATE: Kirkland Firefighters Making Final 'Movember' Push

UPDATE, Nov. 28: Thirty-two Kirkland firefighters have grown mustaches and raised $2,500 to help fight cancers that affect primarily men as part of “Movember,” and are seeking more help in the final days before the big “Shave-Off” party Friday at Seattle’s Paddy Coynes Irish Pub. Firefighters from departments in Kirkland, Bellevue, Redmond, Shoreline, Northshore, Bothell, Woodinville, Duvall, Eastside, Mercer Island and Seattle will converge on the pub at 7 p.m., and the public is invited. Find out more by clicking here. To help Kirkland firefighters out in raising funds, click here.

----

Original story:

Once again the men and women who keep Kirkland residents and property safe are sprouting fuzzy patches on their upper lips -- or pretending -- in a "Movember" competition against their Seattle area counterparts.

Movember is a global campaign to draw attention to the fight against cancers that affect primarily men, and a competition in which many grow mustaches during the month of November to raise money that goes directly to programs of the Prostate Cancer Foundation and Livestrong.

This year, the nine Eastside firefighters unions that make up Zone 1 are facing off against Seattle Firefighters to see which can raise the most money and generate the most awareness, said Kirkland firefighter Evan Hurley.

This issue is unfortunately relevant to firefighters and their families because there are certain types of cancer occur at rates up to 200 percent higher than the rest of the male population.

So Kirkland firefighters are urging the public to not only help fight these types of cancers, but also to help them beat those Seattle firefighters.

So far they have raised some $1,500 and are preparing for a final push.

“There are a bunch of guys with ugly mustaches and some good ones,” said Firefighter/EMT Evan Hurley, based at Station 26 on Rose Hill. “We’re getting the word out on how important this is for us to fight these types of cancers, such as prostate cancer. It’s going really well, we’re getting good participation.”

Hurley himself has raised the most among Kirkland firefighters, $690, with Capt. Bill “Handlebar” Hoover second at $310. To donate and find out more about the Kirkland campaign, see the Facebook page here. For the whole Eastside group’s page, click here.

The effort culminates with a big party at Seattle’s Paddy Coynes Irish Pub on Movember 20 - eh, November 30.