August 18, 2005

Firefighters prepare for Combat Challenge

       "Where's the Fire?" Will be the likely question heard wherever the Firefighter Combat Challenge is being held. Hundreds of firefighters organized by departmental teams and representing the best of the bravest, will battle head to head against themselves and the clock for high honors at the Challenge.  Firefighters from the White River Township Fire Department have been training for several months for the upcoming competition in October in Evansville, Indiana.  "We train aggressively several times per week," said Steve Coover, one of the firefighters competing in the challenge.  "We all intend to be ready and are looking forward to the October event," he added.

         The Challenge is an intense, spirited competition and seeks to encourage firefighter fitness and demonstrate the profession's rigors to our stakeholders- the citizens who support their local departments. The Challenge has won high accolades for its fidelity to the job and for providing the public with a greater appreciation of the physical demands of firefighting. Unlike sports that exist solely for entertainment value, the Challenge is about performing one of the most dangerous and demanding jobs safer and better.

         Wearing "full bunker gear" and a Scott breathing apparatus (SCBA), pairs of firefighters simulate the physical demands of real life firefighting by competing on a linked series of five tasks. Dominating the landscape is a five-story hydraulic tower, the centerpiece of all the activity. Competitors climb to the top of the tower carrying a 42-pound high-rise pack; then hoist a 42 lb. hose roll to the top; next they descend to the ground floor where they simulate chopping by swinging a 9-pound shot mallet on the end of a 160 pound steel beam. They then zigzag 140 feet through simulation hydrants to the fourth station, where they advance an attack hose a distance of 75 feet; and finally, competitors drag a life sized, 175 lb. "victim" a distance of 100 feet to the finish line.

         Each member of a three-to-five-person team performs the standard evolutions against the clock, with the top three individual times added together to yield a team total. Other categories include male, female, over 40, over 50, and the Streamlight Relays. Qualifiers (male<2:00, female<6:00, over 40<3:00, over 50<4:45, team<7:00, male relay<2:00, female relay<3:00) will advance to the World Championships held each year at a different location.

         Firefighters Steve Coover, Justin Walls, Eric Wiseman, and Lieutenant Mark Williams are all planning to compete in the Challenge at Evansville in October.  For more information on the Challenge or how to become a sponsor, visit the official web site by clicking HERE.  Also, see a related story HERE.

           
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