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Shaw firefighters take on world at Myrtle Beach

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Daniel Phelps
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. --  The day was bright and sunny as the the 20th Civil Engineer Squadron firefighters from Shaw Air Force Base, S.C. looked forward to the day's Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge world competition at Broadway at the Beach in Myrtle Beach, S.C. facing off against 180 firefighter teams from around the globe.

Though a relatively new team, only two had competed in the Scott firefighter combat challenge, they were still a faster team than last year's, who placed in the top 10 percent at World's last year.

They were pumped having one of their team members having become a member of the Lion's Den, the club for only the fastest firefighters in the world.

Today was the day they were going to push forward past that 10 percent.

The first competitors they were lined up against in the NCAA-bracket-style finals was a team called the Buckeye Brotherhood from Ohio.

Airman 1st Class Robert Dentici and his opponent gathered at the base of the five-story tower to race up the steps to kick off the relay. The siren went off and the two bolted up the stairs carrying their 45-pound hose and baton.

Once they reached the top, Dentici handed off the baton to Staff Sgt. Steven Thomas for the next leg. Thomas helped pull the Shaw firefighters ahead of the Brotherhood by hoisting up the 45-pound hose up to the top of the tower, racing down the stairs and handing the baton off to the third leg.

Tech. Sgt. Marcus Hewett grabbed the baton from Thomas and dropped it to pick up the sledge hammer and begin pounding the sled. He put them further in the lead as he completed his task and raced down the course, weaving in and out through the barriers to hand off the baton to the next leg.

Hewett passed the baton to Tech. Sgt. Travis Mills, who dashed to the water-laden fire hose, picked it up and sprinted down the course through the double doors and sprayed the volleyball-sized target with his initial pull of the trigger. Staff Sgt. Chastin Warner, the Lion's Den member, who after receiving the baton from Mills, grabbed a 175-pound dummy, Rescue Randy, and dragged him backwards down the course to the finish line giving the Shaw firefighters a time of 1 minute 20 seconds, their best time for the year and defeating the Brotherhood by a full seven seconds.

This time was four seconds faster than their seeded time and pushed them on to the next round for the top 32 bracket.

The team was ecstatic with their time and was looking forward to the next round as they waited for the next brackets to be posted.

When the brackets were finally posted, they received an unpleasant surprise. They were paired up against Clay County, last year's world champs and the current world record holder with a time of 1 minute and 9 seconds for the five-man relay.

"Oh well," said Thomas. "We are still going to go there and give it our best."

The time for their bracket finally came. The Shaw firefighters were pumped and ready to leave it all on the course. The siren rang and they dashed through the course, executing each hand-off and leg as fast they could.

Finally, Warner took the dummy as the final leg and pushed it toward the finish line.

Unfortunately, still behind the previous world champs. Shaw finished with a time of 1 minute and 18.6 seconds, the team's best time ever. Clay County finished with a time of 1 minute and 14 seconds. The Shaw firefighters only lost by 4 seconds.

Even though they were out of the tournament after that race, they still achieved a personal record time, something to be proud of.

"We were a brand new team and still managed to pull this off," Thomas exclaimed.

The Shaw firefighters look forward to having an even stronger and faster team next year.

"Next year we will have the tower to practice with," Warner said. "That will put us over the edge. Had we been lined up against anyone else, we would have moved on in the tournament. We just got the short hand. That pairing hurt."

"Let's go Fire," Lt. Col. Matthew Benivegna, 20th Civil Engineer Squadron commander, who watched Saturdays relays. "These guys rock. They're life savers. It was so awesome to see them doing this."

Hewett pointed out the correlation between the competition and their everyday job. "When we do this, we see how it relates to what we do and allows us to feel more comfortable in the field. The faster we can get through this course, the faster we can get in there and rescue a life."