Chattanooga: Fitness key to firefighting challenge

In a two-minute span tonight, five Chattanooga firefighters wearing full gear will climb a five-story tower, hoist and drag 40-pound fire hoses and rescue a 175-pound person.

They won’t be fighting smoke or flames, but they will be battling opponents and the clock at a regional Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge event in Asheville, N.C.

The tower climbing, hose hoisting and “victim” carrying are part of the competition’s obstacle course event. Those who make qualifying times on the course — one minute and 50 seconds for men and four minutes and 30 seconds for women — will advance to the national competition in October in Clayton County, Ga.

The Chattanooga Fire Department last fielded a combat challenge team in 2000, and firefighters are hoping to resurrect the squad and bring a challenge event to Chattanooga.

“We just decided that the combat challenge might be a good platform to provide more education and more insight for the public to see what we do,” said Lt. Jonathan Lehman, who helped organize the team. “It helps firefighters stay fit, but it also allows the public to see exactly what we do.”

Firefighters train using the CrossFit method, a strength and conditioning program utilized by many law enforcement personnel. While two minutes does not seem like much time, the course will be grueling, especially because competitors will be wearing full firefighting gear, Lt. Lehman said.

“Fitness for a firefighter is a little different,” he said. “We need the ability to generate power and utilize strength with the ability to metabolize oxygen and the ability to work at a very high intensity for a very short period of time.”

Firefighters Local 820 is helping pay the travel and competition costs for the Asheville competition.

A couple hundred firefighters are expected to compete this weekend in both individual and team events, said Paul Davis, president of OnTarget Communications, the managing company for the challenge. Chattanooga’s firefighters are competing only in the individual event.

More than 25,000 firefighters have competed in various challenges during the competition’s 17-year existence, Mr. Davis said. Qualifiers from regional competitions across the country move on to the national competition.

“These guys are industrial athletes,” he said. “It’s one of those few occupations left in America where your physical prowess is directly related to a successful outcome.”