Firefighters cool off at bucket brigade
CONNELLSVILLE – With sweat on their brows, determination in their eyes and pride in their hearts, 27 bucket brigade teams took center stage Wednesday at the 68th annual Fayette County Firemen’s Association Convention held at New Haven Hose Volunteer Fire Co. on 7th Street in Connellsville. In the scaffold bucket brigade contest, Connellsville Township firefighters came in first with a time of 43.55 seconds. Farmington came in second at 49.45 and South Brownsville came in third at 50.30 seconds.
Larry Abel, secretary of the Fayette County Firemen’s Association, said all of the teams did very well. He additionally said that the scaffold bucket brigade isn’t an easy task.
“To start the competition, all of the team members must be on the ground beside the water reservoir,” said Abel. “If the team wants to, they can take a bucket of water with them up to the scaffolding as they head for their positions.”
Once there, one firefighter climbs to the top of the scaffolding while another is stationed partway up a ladder. The firefighters on the ground carry buckets of water to the firefighters on the ladder. The firefighter on the top of the scaffolding pours the water into a 55-gallon barrel.
Abel said the process is timed and whoever gets the best time wins.
Other teams who participated in the scaffold bucket brigade and their times are as follows: Hopwood, 55.70; North Union, 50.45; McClellandtown, 1:08.15; Ronco, 54.75; South Connellsville, 1:11.20; and Dunbar, 52.50.
There were 11 teams entered in the scaffold bucket brigade while there were 16 teams entered in the second and last contest of the night – the house bucket brigade. Six of the 16 teams were disqualified from the contest for stepping over the line, according to Abel.
Those disqualified were Connellsville Township with a time of 1:11.31, Dunbar with a time of 1:24.87, North Union 2 with a time of 1:26.09, McClellandtown 2 with a time of 2:21.31, North Union 1 with a time of 1:35.15 and McClellandtown 1 with a time of 1:27.40.
One of the North Union teams argued that they were disqualified for throwing a bucket of water on a judge, who is a member of their fire department. Abel said that might have played into the disqualification but the main reason for it was that someone from their team stepped over the line.
South Brownsville won the contest with a time of 1:10.15, while South Connellsville 2 came in second at 1:16.87. Other fire company teams and their times are as follows: Fairchance 1, 1:18.65; Hopwood 2, 2:27.03; Hopwood 1, 1:30.69; Farmington, 1:23.15; South Connellsville 1, 4:17; Connellsville Township 2, 1:51.72; and Ronco, 1:44.15.
The house bucket brigade is a contest where the firefighters fill their buckets with water and douse the roof of a makeshift house with water until a 32-gallon water barrel located below is filled with water.
While the firefighters were battling for bragging rights and trophies, children dressed in swimwear were standing by the scaffolding and the house, waiting for the 55-gallon and 32-gallon water barrels to be dumped, drenching them and giving them some relief from the heat.
The following companies took part in the Tuesday night stationary hose-laying contest:
North Union VFD 1 – 30.09 seconds
North Union VFD 2 – 31.87 seconds
South Brownsville VFD – 34.38 seconds
Hiller VFD – 35.78 seconds
Fayette City VFD – 36.47 seconds
Dunbar VFD – 41.09 seconds
Fairchance VFD 1 – 53.50 seconds
South Connellsville VFD – 55 seconds
Fairchance VFD 2 – 59.96 seconds
McClellandtown – 61.69 seconds
The top three winners were awarded trophies.
The gear scramble competition scheduled for Tuesday will be held Thursday. The rest of the week’s schedule is as follows:
– Thursday – Tug of War and Truck Pull at 6 p.m.; Mon Valley Cloggers at 6:30 p.m.; and musical group Crazy Cowboys at 8 p.m.
– Friday – Cruise Night on 7th Street at 6 p.m.; musical group Brass Knuckles at 7 p.m.
– Saturday – Firemen’s Bike Ride at 9 a.m. and registration for county delegates; county meeting from 10:30 a.m. until noon; county voting, swearing in of officers by Connellsville Magisterial District Judge Ronald Haggerty Sr., noon to 1 p.m.; parade, 4 p.m.; the musical group Punch at 7 p.m.; and fireworks at 10:30.