Several Christiansburg Fire Department volunteers participated in skills competitions at the 73rd Annual Southwest Virginia Firefighters Association Conference in Kingsport, TN in mid-June, taking home 13 individual or team titles and one department-wide award.
The challenges reflect real-world requirements of speed, safety and accuracy.
One competition required firefighters to put on boots, helmets and coats with buttons snapped in the fastest time, Mike Hutchison took first and Forest Redd took second place.
Todd Chrisley won second as the fastest firefighter-over-50-years-old to complete this task.
“Actually the times are not all that much different,” said firefighter Doug Adkins at the firehouse. “The younger guys are just a little faster.”
In the three-person team version of this task Mike Hutchison, Forest Redd and Potsie Smith won and Scott Phillips, John Linkous and Nathan Brewbaker came in second.
In a similar category in which the firefighter puts on, zips and velcros helmets, coats and boots the quickest was a shut-out as Christiansburg volunteers Mike Hutchison came in first, Forest Redd second and Potsie Smith third.
Christiansburg swept the competition to put on air-packs while in full gear.
“It’s a compressed air tank with their coat and helmet on, they then run a short distance – 50 feet – with their mask on, tightened and sealed. The judges check for that,” Adkins said.
Those winners were Forest Redd in first, Scott Phillips in second and John Linkous in third.
John Linkous also took first and Scott Phillips took second in the competition for uncoupling two couplings from a hose and applying a nozzle the fastest.
“It’s a little different setting compared to actually going to the fire, but we practice three to four weeks before the competition and most of the guys who compete have been doing it for multiple years,” he said.
As a department, Christiansburg won the sportsmanship trophy.
They firefighters will be competing again at the state competition in Hampton in August.
Staff report
