Firemen take on combat challenge
Posted: Friday, Aug 20th, 2010
BY: Amanda Hayes/Senior Staff Writer 8-18-10
Some Buckhannon firefighters will be taking part in a national combat challenge this week, competing against others from around the country.
The SCOTT Firefighter Combat Challenge is coming to Charleston Friday for two days of intense competition that simulates firefighting, such as climbing a five-story tower, hoisting, chopping and dragging hoses and rescuing a 175-pound victim.
Firefighter Ben Tacy is heading to the event with JB Kimble, Joey Baxa, Dion Wamsley and Bryan Carr.
“We have been training three or four times a week for the past four or five months,” he said.
The training includes a lot of high-intensity workouts, cardio and weight-training.
On Friday, Tacy, Wamsley, Baxa and Kimble will compete as individuals, but they also have their three fastest times compiled to give an overall score.
On Saturday, all five firefighters will comprise a relay team.
“Once you do one part of the race, you hand the baton off to the next person, then he goes to complete the next challenge,” Tacy said.
The firefighters competed in the Webster Springs Woodchoppers Festival Fireman’s Rodeo earlier this summer and Tacy described the combat challenge as “similar but on a bigger scale.”
Teams will be coming from several states to compete.
As the competition inches closer, Tacy said they can’t help but be a little nervous.
“I think the butterflies are kind of setting in for everybody,” he said.
Regardless of how the firemen do at the competition, Tacy said that all the training only helps them perform their jobs better.
“It definitely helps with your cardio work and your strength,” he said. “Firefighting is a very physically demanding field and to be physically fit for certain situations can be the difference between life and death.”
“Everything that you do in these challenges pertains to what you would experience in an actual emergency,” he said.
For example, one challenge involves running up a flight of stairs in full firemen’s gear.
The firefighters would like to thank its sponsors and everyone who helped out, according to Tacy.
Those sponsors are JH Consulting, Alcon and Sunset Graphics.
“We would also like to thank the Buckhannon Fire Department and everyone for their help and participation,” he said.
SCOTT is a brand of air apparatus for firefighters.
For more information about the challenge, visit www.firefighterchallenge.com