Washington County Fire Games highlights talent, skill

In a creative way to show off the talent and skill of local firefighters, Greenhead Volunteer Fire Department created the Washington County Fire Games. The event will be held on September 7 at the Possum Palace in Wausau. Firefighters and children are invited to join the games for their chance to bring home bragging rights and a trophy. 

Teams sign-in at the Scoring table beginning at 8am, team & Judges briefing begins at 9:30, and the games begin at 10 am. There will be 3 competitors per team, 5 events: 3 wet events (all head-to-head, brackets) and 2 dry events (1 team per rotation, timed). 

The wet events include water polo and make-A-line. Water polo will be 2 teams facing each other, spraying a charged 1-3/4” hose at a 5-gallon bucket that is suspended on a cable 9-feet above the ground. The goal is to move the bucket behind your opponents to win and advance to the next round.  Make-A-line includes 2 teams that are side-by-side and unroll then connect 3 sections of 1-3/4” hoses and nozzle, charge the line, knock over their cone before the opposing team knocks over their cone. 

The last event for the wet portion of the competition will be the bucket brigade. This event includes 2 teams that are side-by-side using 3-gallon buckets to transfer water from a portable dump-tank to their assigned 55-gallon barrel. The team that transfers the most water in 1-minute will advance to next round.

The dry events will be PPE-relay and Keiser-sled. For the PPE-relay time begins when a firefighter (FF1), donning full PPE, hood, SCBA and mask (no air), tags their teammate who dons full gear, who then tags the last member who dons full gear to end the timer. Penalties will be given for exposed skin (such as wrists, face). The Keiser-sled is also timed, firefighters will use a hand tool to move a weighted object 3 lengths of the sled. 

Kids events will mirror some of the firefighter events. Youth can partake in “miniature” versions of each game, allowing them to experience the fun as well as see the life of firefighters firsthand.