OCEAN CITY, Md. -Firefighters were put to the test Saturday as the Ocean Firefighter Combat Challenge made its return to the resort town. “Essentially what the firefighter challenge is that you’re climbing five flights of stairs, you’re doing a keiser force machine using a sledgehammer to show your force, and you’re also deploying a hose line and opening and closing the nozzle. Then of course you’re rescuing a victim,” OCFD Public Information Officer Ryan Whittington said.
“So being able to do those skills in a minute and thirty seconds to two minutes is phenomenal and truly shows the athletic ability of some firefighters.”
We got to chance to catch up with a duo traveling from Ontario, Canada who were excited to show off their hard work. “God blessed me with Ashley 3 years ago at our station. Every 57 year old needs a 30 year old to play with so I finally found somebody who meets my match,” Stone Mills Township Fire Lieutenant Lianne McAuley said.
“We walk into grocery stores and have children, mothers and fathers come up and they’re just so excited. I t brings tears to our eyes.”
“We didn’t have it in Canada because of COVID, so it gave us the opportunity to hone in on those skills here and really showcase all our hard work and training for a solid 2 years,” Stone Mills Township Firefighter Jessica Scaletta.
Although the fire service is mostly male dominated, those I spoke with say they’re proving that women and even little girls with dreams of becoming firefighters can do it too. “No matter the size of the dream or goal you have, if you work hard for it people will see that and they’ll always support and encourage you,” Scaletta said.
The focus of the day was testing those fire heroes mental and physical abilities while racing against the time clock.
Yet, we’re told it’s the memories made that will last a life time. “Meeting all these people in the communities, its immeasurable,” Lt. McAuley said.
The challenge also served as a charity event with proceeds from the day going to support the Ocean City Helping Heroes Foundation.