Baltimore, MD — The first annual Fire-Rescue Competition National Championship kicked off this morning at Firehouse Expo. In Day 1 of the two-day competition, teams from Ashland, Tenn., Gainesville, Fla, Tamarac, Fla., and a team representing the Pittman Center Community Volunteer Fire Department from Tennessee, squared off to see who could post the best time heading into Day 2. The team with the best cumulative time for the two days will be named National Champions and will receive the coveted National Championship trophy.
Firehouse Editor-in-Chief Tim Sendelbach also announced that the winning team will be invited back to Firehouse Expo in Nashville, Tenn., next October to defend their title.
The teams, made up of five members, had to make their way through an elaborate obstacle course designed to simulate a real-life situation. A dummy is placed inside the structure and when the PASS alarm sounds, the first two members of the team are assigned to go in and rescue their comrade. They must first make a forcible entry and then crawl along the floor with limited visibility and obstacles in the way. Once the victim is found and given air, the second two-person team enters to relieve the first team and finish up the rescue. At least one team member shall hold the rank of a company or chief officer. This member will serve as the designated incident commander for each scenario. On Day 1, the teams are allowed to scope out the course before the competition. On Day 2, the teams will be sequestered while the course is redesigned.
I spoke to the judges before the competition to get a little background on the event. Shawn Boyett, a captain with the Panama City Fire Department said that each team represented earned their way to Baltimore by winning regional championships in Florida and Tennessee. "We had 14 teams in Florida and 9 in Tennessee, so what you see here is the best of the best."
Joel Richardson, a lieutenant with the Escambia, Fla., Fire Department, provided a list of criteria the judges would be evaluating. They included:
- Forcible Entry
- Entanglement Drill
- Wall Breach
- Victim Rescue
- Removal of Victim
- Up/Down
- Denver Drill
- IC Radio Communications
- Section Tools
The teams must complete these drills perfectly or risk having penalty time added to their final score. "Each item on the list has a subset of items that must be completed. If a team fails to complete a task, 30 seconds gets added to their time," said Richardson. "If someone leaves a tool behind...that's 30 seconds!' Teams would also be subject to an automatic disqualification if any team member ripped off his or her mask or received a second unsafe practice warning from the judges.
"Our goal is not to punish the teams or to make it impossible to complete the course," said Boyett. "We want them all to succeed. But, if they do something wrong, we tell them. If they make mistakes, we want them to learn from their mistakes. The bottom line is that this is all about safety and training. Yes, it is a competition, but it's also a training drill and an opportunity to learn."
And the great thing about it is, not only are the participants learning, but so are the spectators. A big crowd of firefighters gathered around the course and watched the competition unfold. Some took notes, some talked about how they would tackle the course and others critiques the teams. But they were all learning.
Off to the Races
The team from Ashland was first up. The team consisted of members Cody Alexander, Brett Miles, Ernie Franklin, Zach Morris and Mike Osman. The team got off to a great start, but lost some time when they lost track of the rope after finding the victim. Instead of being able to retrace their steps to the entryway to the room, they became a bit disoriented. Ashland still put up an impressive time of 18 minutes and 8 seconds (including penalty time). The time was roughly four seconds ahead of the national average time, which, according to judge Brandon Clutter of the Orlando, Fla., Fire Department is 22 seconds.
Up next was the team from Gainesville, under the leadership of Chief Rusty Barrett. Team members Tim Davis, Colby Perryman, Jose Paredes and Wlises Mejia ran into trouble during the Up/Down portion of the event when the tool case became jammed and actually opened up. But the team never lost sight of the goal and continued on, posting an incredible time of 11:54! That time cut the national average time in half! But it wasn't even the best time of the day.
Team Tamarac gave the performance of the day posting a mind-boggling time of 9:35. The team of Chris Dixon, Billy Duesler, Paul Onorati, Godson Cherry and Chi Lui were nearly flawless during their rescue and have to be considered the favorites going into Day 2.
While Tamarac gave the performance of the day, the story of the day may go to the team from Pittman. The team was made up of recruits from three different stations who were brought together to compete in the regional competition...and they won it. The team also featured the only woman in today's competition, Deanna Sanderson. Sanderson was joined by teammates Austin Vick, Justin French and the Landry brothers, Mark and Adam. The Pittman team put up a very impressive time of 12:33.
"That was a lot of fun," said Sanderson, speaking on behalf of the Pittman team, and probably everyone else in attendance.
Day 2 of the competition kicks off Saturday at 10:30. Come down to the show floor and cheer on the teams...and learn some tips you can bring back to your department.
