2023 Firefighter Challenge

Heather Ainsley
ECB Publishing, Inc.

It is no secret that a firefighter's job is no walk in the park. Not only does it sometimes take a steep emotional toll, but the job can be extremely demanding on a physical level. To celebrate and showcase the skills and athleticism required to be a firefighter, the First Responder Institute organizes and hosts an event called The Firefighter Challenge. The Firefighter Challenge is an annual event that encompasses six specific job-related tasks that firefighters experience on the job. These tasks are set up along a course for participants to compete for the fastest time. It is designed to challenge firefighters' physical stamina and endurance, as they perform the course while wearing full firefighting bunker gear. This gear is the same equipment that firefighters use to protect themselves while actively fighting an ongoing structure fire.
It all starts with a grueling climb up six flights of stairs. Each participant must wear their full gear and carry a 42-lb high-rise pack while they climb. Once up the stairs, the participant must then hoist up a 42-lb fire hose roll using a rope. They then run down the stairs and make their way to what is called a Keiser sled, also known as a Keiser Force Machine, which mimics forcing entry into a building. Participants must strike the machine in order to proceed to the next station, which is to run a 100-ft serpentine to reach a 1 3/4 inch charged hose line. Once they reach the hose, they must then drag it 75 feet. The final task is a 175-lb “victim rescue drag” for approximately 100 feet.
This challenge was built to be just that: a challenge! For Monticello native, Gene Liford, and his friend Brandon Corley (Tallahassee), this year's Firefighter Challenge was exhausting but enjoyable. The team are both firefighters for the Tallahassee Fire Department and have spent the last eight months enrolled in paramedic school. Between their work for the fire department, attending classes and making time for family, the pair have been hard at work training for the event.
“The competition is the easy part,” says Liford, who says the bigger challenge was finding the time in their busy schedules to train in a healthy way. “It's finding time to train and get in the gym, and making sure that you're feeding your body the way it needs to be fed and, for both Brandon and myself, balancing that with being in paramedic school. Our time for these events is limited, so there were many days that we were burning the candle at both ends, trying to fit in the requirements of our current job, paramedic school, family time and training. Thankfully, we were on the same shift, so we could schedule certain school clinicals together and train after.”
The duo competed as individuals, as part of a relay team and in tandem in a team they called Thicc and Quick.
“Our team name,” said Liford, “was just a way for us to have fun. We're both rather large people but are surprisingly agile for our size. The tandem events in the relay are a lot of fun; it's the same course that you run while doing individual races, however the course is split up. During our tandem race, I competed the first three events and Brandon did the last three. As for the relay race, we raced in the hybrid relays, which consisted of Brandon and myself, along with three other members from other Florida fire departments. It's the exact same course that we run as individuals, but this time the events were split up amongst five people, so typically you put each person at what they do best in.”
During the relay, Liford performed the hose hoist and Corley completed the hose drag for their relay team, Team Florida Man. Both men performed well, each earning personal records for their times. Liford made it into the finals and was placed fifth overall for the weekend in his division, and their relay team won third overall for the weekend and first in the Southeast Regional Division. Team Florida Man is the current record holder for the Southeast Region hybrid relay.
While there is certainly a level of competition and fun to be had through the Firefighter Challenge, Corley and Liford both appreciate the serious hard work and dedication that it requires of them.
“Brandon and myself are both former athletes,” says Liford, “so to have something for us that encourages us to train and get in the gym and stay as physically fit as possible, that's always a win. In addition to the training aspect in the physical fitness side of things, this event encompasses a lot of firefighter-specific tasks, so it ensures that we are comfortable in our fire gear, comfortable breathing air on an SCBA, and are able to get the job done while essentially putting our bodies at a redline status. It brings a lot of confidence to us back on the fire ground as well.”
“For me,” says Corley, “these competitions are a way to ensure that I am ready to answer the call every day we clock in for work. Don't get me wrong – they are a lot of fun and I enjoy competing very much, but at the end of the day, these competitions
help keep me physical fitness accountable for the community I serve, and more importantly, help give me a better chance to return home to my family at the end of the day.”
Liford says that the pair as well as their team performed really well, and it was nice to see all the hard work pay off. But more rewarding than earning their own personal records was the knowledge that there were friends, family and community members cheering them on from back home.
“I think some of the most rewarding things didn't happen in Virginia,” Liford says of the competition. “These competitions were streamed live on Facebook this year, so we were able to send the links back to people in our department and had people from different stations, different crews, chiefs, captains, lieutenants and firefighters that were all watching us compete, either at home or at work when time allowed. It was everybody back at home watching and supporting us, and the support from our department that was the most rewarding part. It's pretty cool to have a battalion chief call you or your captain call you, wanting to know when you're going to race so that they can make sure the whole crew is watching and rooting you on from the station back in Tallahassee. And then, to come home and have everybody contact us or come up to the station and want to come out and train with us, that's really what we want. We want people to be active and run the course with us and know that they can be comfortable being uncomfortable.”
Being a firefighter in and of itself is a challenging profession. It takes hard work, selflessness, and no short measure of courage in the face of life-threatening danger. A firefighter must possess empathy, a calm head under pressure and unmatched bravery while serving their communities. The Firefighter Challenge is a monumental way to not only test our first responder's abilities and skills, but to showcase the sheer resilience, dedication and strength that it takes to be one of them.
While being a firefighter or paramedic may not be for just anyone, for Corley and Liford, there's just no comparison.
“It may sound cliché,” admits Liford, “but it really is the best thing in the world. You have a family, and brothers and sisters that you can rely on and call at any time.”
“It is the most rewarding job I've ever had,” agrees Corley. “It's kind of like being a Swiss Army Knife; you have to be ready for anything. We do not just respond to fire calls, we also show up to every vehicle accident, every medical call, most mental breakdowns, and everyone else's very bad day. It's not always an easy task, but we devote a lot of time training to be able to help in any way that we can.”
This year's event served as the Southeast Regional competition, and was held in Virginia Beach this May. The Firefighter Challenge League hosts six regional events across the country that qualifies participants for nationals. This year, the national competition will be held in Alabama in September, and after nationals, there will be a World Championship that will be held in Stuart, Fla., in October. According to a statement provided by Liford, team Thicc and Quick plans on attending both!