Tuff competition challenges AEDC's finest

  • Published
  • By Janaé Daniels
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. --  The fourth annual Tennessee Ultimate Fire Fighter (TUFF) Challenge and Muster was held Sept. 29 at the Tennessee Fire Service and Codes Enforcement Academy in Bell Buckle, Tenn. It was open to Tennessee firefighters and fire departments only. 

Several from Arnold Engineering Development Center's fire department participated in this year's challenge: Crew Chief Charlie Armstrong, Driver and Operator Lee Brassfield, Firefighter Clint Montgomery, Aerospace Testing Alliance Human Resources and Air Force Reserve member Jay Spray and Tullahoma firefighter and ATA Fire Chief Daryle Lopes. Supervisors, family and friends also attended to support and cheer on the AEDC team. 

A total of 213 competitors from 31 Tennessee fire departments competed as well including Shelbyville, Unionville Volunteer, Tullahoma, Rutherford Volunteer and Murfreesboro. 

Chief Lopes said the tasks in the TUFF Challenge are training for the same things they would perform at the scene of a fire, but he admits the competition also has other gains. 

"The not so obvious gain is the pride and camaraderie we feel when we work together and support one another," he said. "This is a great way to represent AEDC and ATA to the public and to our fellow firefighters." 

From victim rescue to ventilation to climbing, the competitors performed a series of tasks that represent the physical demands that are placed on firefighters on a daily basis. The TUFF Challenge is geared in support of firefighter fitness and showcases the hard work and dedication of the states' first responders. 

There are five "evolutions" that the teams or individuals can compete in which represent struggles firefighters may face during a real emergency. The firefighter is wearing 60-80 pounds of gear while performing all these tasks. 

The first task is the high-rise stair climb, where firefighters must carry a high-rise standpipe hose pack up four stories of the control building. The second task is called the hose hoist, where a firefighter must pull a heavy donut roll of 2 ½ -inch diameter hose up to the top floor with a utility rope. 

Next is the forcible entry competition that is performed on a simulator, called a Keiser sled. A firefighter employs an eight-pound shot hammer and must drive a 150-pound metal beam five feet. 

The fourth task is the 1 ¾-hose advance where a charged line (filled with water) is carried 140 feet through a maze of cones and then 75 feet to a marked line, where the firefighter will then open the nozzle to hit the target. The final task involves lifting or dragging a 175-pound rescue dummy a distance of 100 feet. 

The team finished the challenge in two minutes and 22 seconds. 

"With a five man team whose average age was 43-years-old, we proved what everyone in this department knows -- AEDC fire department is always ready," said Chief Lopes. 

All funds raised at the event were donated toward a memorial for the state's fallen firefighters that is planned for the grounds of the academy.