Firefighters to compete for charity
Midnight alarm. Barrel roll. Dual attack. Bucket brigade. Busted hose. Reverse attack.
Grovetown Fire Department firefighters Wayne Kent and Christopher Rabun competed in the multitarget event in the Firefighter Muster Competition during Fire Fest 2002. This year, firefighting muster teams will be competing for a $500 prize.
Photo by Valerie Rowell
All are firefighter muster events that will highlight this year's Fire Fest put on by the Rotary Club of Columbia County and the Columbia County Fire Chiefs Association.
The fire education festival is scheduled for Saturday at the Doctors Hospital field behind the Kroger in Evans.
The muster competition, which is a sanctioned Southeastern Firefighters Muster Association event, consists of several team and individual events in which firefighters compete in performing specific firefighting-related skills in the quickest time possible.
"The muster event is a big thing," said Larry Lynn, the event chairman.
This year, firefighting muster teams will be competing for a $500 prize, said Lee Clark, the past Rotary Club president and past chairman of the event.
The festival runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and proceeds from the event go to the Southeastern Firefighters Burn Foundation, participating fire departments and other Rotary charities.
The festivities will include live entertainment, arts and crafts, food, children's rides and games, clown shows, raffles, a silent auction and demonstrations.
"Gold Cross' helicopter will be there for viewing," Clark said. "The (Georgia) Forestry Commission is going to have their helicopter come in and do water drops like they did last year."
All area law enforcement agencies will be on hand for information and demonstrations.
The Columbia County Sheriff's Office will be using a drug-sniffing dog for a demonstration, and a rescue unit will demonstrate how a victim could be extricated from a vehicle, Clark said.
An area organization also will inspect child safety seats.
"We're going to have it set up where you can drive through and they'll do an inspection to see if you've got the proper car seats and the proper way to have them installed," Clark said.
Area fire departments will have emergency equipment and fire trucks, and children can shoot water from a real fire hose. Columbia County's Mobile Operations Center also will hold tours.
Lynn said he was impressed by the number of businesses that were eager to participate in the festival.
"They said, 'Oh yeah, we've been looking forward to the Fire Fest,'" Lynn said, "and they stepped right up."
Club Car in Evans donated a golf cart to be raffled off, and Hank Aaron Jaguar Land Rover donated to the raffle 30 days in a Land Rover or Jaguar, he said.
"I think it's going to be great," Lynn said. "I think the weather is going to be perfect."