Firefighters Meet a Different Challenge

Usually, the last thing on Los Angeles County Fire Engineer Derek Alkonis’ mind as he carries someone from a burning building is points.

But at the second annual Southern California Regional Firefighter Combat Challenge, held before 1,000 spectators and family members Friday at the Orange County Fair, Alkonis and members of 31 other teams from across the country went for the score as they tested their strength, endurance and skill in several firefighter “challenges.”

Wearing nearly forty pounds of gear in the afternoon heat, participants had to perform such tasks as pulling 40 pounds of hose to the top of a five-story tower or dragging a dummy across the arena, all in the shortest amount of time possible.

The three teams with the best combined times move on to the final competition in Las Vegas in December.

“It’s just a lot of fun,” Alkonis said just before suiting up. “It’s good for the department, to keep us physically fit and to motivate us to compete.”

The competition “points to the fact that people in the fire services do keep themselves physically fit,” Alkonis said. “It’s pretty grueling and tough.”

But for the Costa Mesa Fire Department, a little more was on the line for being from the host city. As Capt. Chris Riley put it, the most important thing for his team was fairly simple: “Bragging rights.”