Healthy Competition during Fire Prevention Week

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Mara Title
  • 65th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
LAJES FIELD, Azores --  Amidst fire hoses spraying, and people cheering, one could feel the true sense of camaraderie during a fire muster competition, Oct. 14, one of 20 events during Lajes' Fire Prevention Week, Oct. 9-15.

The competition had seven stations, where participants worked in teams to display their firefighting skills as quickly as possible. The activities consisted of assembling hoses and spraying a ball off two cones; rolling out and re-rolling fire hoses; getting mustered into fire gear and taking it off; dragging a dummy around two cones and back; filling a pail full of water and dumping it into a drum; using a sledgehammer and hitting a full-size truck tire to move it across the ground; and the firefighter's version of volleyball -- two teams, each holding one hose, facing each other and spraying a ball hanging from a rope to move it across the other team's line.

"We were both volunteer firefighters back in South Carolina in neighboring counties," said Tech. Sgt. Michael Anderson, 65th Civil Engineer Squadron, regarding he and Staff Sgt. Kenneth Lemanski, 65th CES, both members of the first-place team from 65th CES.

Other winning team members were Staff Sgt. Christian Delos-Reyes and Airman 1st Class Anthony Roberts, who hadn't participated before, but wanted to experience the competition. Also, Staff Sgt. Hector Sanchez had done many of these kinds of challenges, and felt they really encourage teamwork.

Firefighters, along with their family members, helped out the competitors by manning each station and giving out helpful tips and advice. One of the assistants was Jason Rinehart, spouse to the only female active duty firefighter and first female station captain at Lajes Field, Staff Sgt. Cori Rinehart. There is only one other female civilian firefighter on the team of 73, made up of 56 civilians and 17 military members.

"My wife asked if I would come out and help in Fire Prevention Week, and I'm a former medic, and medics and firefighters go hand-in-hand," said Rinehart.

The Rinehart's brought their family to Lajes Field from Elmendorf, Ala. When Sergeant Rinehart began at Elmendorf, there were six females; when she left, there were just two.

"Females are very rare in the fire department," said Sergeant Rinehart. "For me, it takes a lot of upper body strength, and a lot more willpower to be in a man's world, really. You've just got to have the mindset of, 'I'm gonna' do it!'" she said.

She's always been a firefighter in the Air Force, too.

"I actually came in open general," said Sergeant Rinehart. "I did not have a job and I just wanted to be in, because I lived in a small town, and I wanted to travel -- the Air Force to me was the way to go," she said.

Although her tech. school training was a bit daunting at first (she had to learn to lift additional weight), she said she was raised to see things through until the end, and she said she's glad she stuck with it.

"It's just nice to get all of the different shops out, just for the competition, just to have fun," said Sergeant Rinehart.

Fire Prevention Week allowed for 500 students to get a tour of the fire station and listen to safety briefings, and more than 2,000 people were reached through the various activities. But the healthy battle between the teams made the fire muster competition one of the most popular events of the week.

"It was fun going against other squadrons as well as our own," said Anderson. "This was a full team effort and the motivation between each other encouraged being the winning team."