WHAT: The Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge
WHEN: Saturday and Sunday 9/7 and 9/8 with opening ceremonies commencing at Noon on Saturday and racing starting at 12:30.
WHERE: In front of Sean Kelly’s in Downtown Missoula, on Pine Street between Ryman and Higgins.
The Missoula Firefighter Combat Challenge Team, with two World Championships and the current team World Record, is hosting a regional competition in Missoula September 7- 8th, 2013.
A two day regional event like this typically draws 75 to 175 competitors.
The Missoula Fire Department (MFD) has been competing in the Firefighter Combat Challenge (MFFCC) since 1994. The MFD hosted regional competitions in 1997 and 1998.
A combined MFD and Missoula Rural Fire District team won the world championship in 1997 and MFD won the team title again in 2001 with a team time of (4:19.33) which stands as the current World Record.
The event is family friendly. The Kid’s Firefighter Challenge is the logical extension in showcasing the American Fire Service while at the same time, promoting physical fitness.
The Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge was founded over 20 years ago, by Dr. Paul Davis, as a physical fitness research project at the University of Maryland. The Challenge is based out of Burtonsville, Maryland, and maintains a goal of promoting fitness within the first responder community.
In an interview with event coordinator, Justin Walsh on KGVO Radio, Walsh indicated, “We have the entire block closed off for the weekend. This is basically the firefighter Olympics. It’s a demonstration to the public of what we can, and should, be prepared for on any fire ground activity. We’ll be carrying a hose load up four flights of stairs. We’re hauling hose up over the top of that staircase and down again. We’re simulating a forcible entry, or a ventilation hole, by hitting a heavy chunk of steel five feet. Then, we’re dragging a 175 pound dummy 100 feet as fast as we can.”
“We have competitors coming from Minnesota, Nevada, Washington, Wyoming, and several teams from the state of Montana,” Walsh said. “We’re looking to have 100 competitors in Missoula this weekend, and they’ll be racing as individuals, in tandem and in relays.”
Walsh said there will be a kids’ competition, as well and some members of the Grizzly football team will be on hand to help reset the course, along with mascots, like Monte and Ollie the Osprey.
Check out the Kids Challenge: