Firefighters test skills during annual fair competition

Jul. 31—GOSHEN — Barrett Piper, of the West Licking Joint Fire District out of Ohio, took first place in the Firefighters Challenge during the Elkhart County 4-H Fair Saturday morning.

Piper was one of eight firefighters to compete in the sixth-annual event at the grandstand, which presented several challenges designed to resemble real-world firefighting situations.

Helping to organize Saturday's event were Capt. Travis Peak of the Goshen Fire Department and Bruce Yoder, vice president of the New Paris Fire Department.

"So, this is the sixth annual Firefighters Challenge, and it's actually copied after the Scott challenge, which is a professional competition — so, we just sort of Goshenized it," Peak said of the event. "And how it works is, basically each firefighter goes through a combat challenge that we set up to be like the professional Scott combat challenge, but we just made it our own.

"You have to be on a fire department, and be a firefighter for sure," Peak added of the requirements for the competition. "But we've had firefighters from other states compete. So, it's open to all firefighters."

During the event, each competitor — wearing full gear — had to first climb up a Goshen Fire Department ladder truck at about a 45-degree angle to an aerial bucket. There, they used a cable to pull a coiled fire hose up to the bucket.

After climbing down from the truck, the second challenge involved using a sledge hammer to move a 60-pound sled about 5 feet. They then ran through a short obstacle course of cones and had to crawl through a narrow tile.

From there, participants carried a fire hose about 75 feet, and then targeted and knocked over a cone with a spray of water. Finally, they had to drag the dead weight of a 165-pound dummy about 100 feet to cross the finish line.

THE REAL DEAL

Saturday's win, with a blistering time of 1:58, was a big one for Piper, whose performance during the challenge was the only one to come in at under two minutes.

"It was a good run," Piper said of his performance. "I run the Scott challenge, which I guess it's kind of based on. The ladder definitely makes it a little more difficult, with having to hit all the steps and everything. And the dirt, too. Trying to drag the dummy through the dirt... Man, it felt like the real deal. I was exhausted."

Piper said he's been participating in similar challenges for about a decade, and tries to get in a least a couple each year.

"Yeah, my lieutenant about seven years ago tricked us into coming to one of these things, and I've been doing them ever since," Piper said. "And I'm an extremely competitive person. So, it's good for me. It humbles you in the sense that it shows how you may think you're in good shape, but you could definitely be better. So, it's humbling, but also fun to compete."

Piper was followed in the rankings by James Dewitt, of the Elkhart Fire Department, with a time of 2:22. Marty Dyer, also of the Elkhart Fire Department, scored the third place run with a time of 2:35.

BIG MONEY

As a sponsored event, the first place winner of Saturday's challenge received a $1,000 prize courtesy of Landmark Bar & Grill of New Paris and Dunny's Pump Service of Syracuse.

Second place took home $500 courtesy of MSC Industrial Supply Co. of Elkhart, while third place took home $250 courtesy of Olympia Candy Kitchen of Goshen.

Also competing in Saturday's event were: Kody Miller, of the Millersburg-Clinton Fire Territory, who finished fourth at 2:53; Lucas Wickey, of the Goshen Fire Department, who finished fifth at 3:16; Trevor Crist, of the Foraker Fire Department, who finished sixth at 4:13; Phil Gran, of the New Paris Fire Department, who finished seventh at 4:38; and Sean Dailey, also of the New Paris Fire Department, who finished eighth at 7:23.

John Kline can be reached at john.kline@goshennews.com or 574-533-2151, ext. 240315. Follow John on Twitter @jkline_TGN.