Peggy
10-04-2008, 05:49 PM
More than 200 firefighters from across the country and Canada gathered at a chilly Lock 3 Park Friday night to compete in Akron's second Firefighter Combat Challenge.
The event, which tests firefighters' skills in a race against each other and the clock, continues from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today.
Tt almost looks like a walk in the park for the participants, who make runs to the top of a five-story platform wearing 80 pounds of turnout gear while carrying a 42-pound hose pack.
Noreen Evans, of Cuyahoga Falls, said she and her husband, Dale, were attending the challenge for the second year because it's ''neat to watch.''
''It's a good thing to support. It lets them know they are appreciated,'' Dale Evans said.
The five individual events, from pulling a charged hose line through an obstacle course to dragging a 175-pound ''victim'' 100 feet were simulated on a course set up on Main Street.
The activities are typical of duties firefighters face every day on the job, said Ed Sturkey, Akron Fire Department's public information officer.
''That is why they specifically tied it in with what these guys are required to do on the fire ground,'' Sturkey said.
Bob Donel, 44, an 18-year Akron firefighter, is probably not an average competitor.
More (http://www.ohio.com/news/30459659.html)...
The event, which tests firefighters' skills in a race against each other and the clock, continues from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today.
Tt almost looks like a walk in the park for the participants, who make runs to the top of a five-story platform wearing 80 pounds of turnout gear while carrying a 42-pound hose pack.
Noreen Evans, of Cuyahoga Falls, said she and her husband, Dale, were attending the challenge for the second year because it's ''neat to watch.''
''It's a good thing to support. It lets them know they are appreciated,'' Dale Evans said.
The five individual events, from pulling a charged hose line through an obstacle course to dragging a 175-pound ''victim'' 100 feet were simulated on a course set up on Main Street.
The activities are typical of duties firefighters face every day on the job, said Ed Sturkey, Akron Fire Department's public information officer.
''That is why they specifically tied it in with what these guys are required to do on the fire ground,'' Sturkey said.
Bob Donel, 44, an 18-year Akron firefighter, is probably not an average competitor.
More (http://www.ohio.com/news/30459659.html)...