Artesia Fire Dept. turns in team record time, qualifies for world championship event
By EMIL WHITIS
Daily Press Staff Writer
Artesia Firefighters Toby Bratcher, Alfredo Garcia, Kyle Luginbyhl, Jeffry Bishop and Marcus Teets proved themselves worthy of a berth in the 19th Annual World Scott World Firefighter Combat Challenge last weekend in Lubbock, Texas.
The team will now travel to Myrtle Beach, S.C. in November to compete against the world’s best municipal fire departments.
The Artesia firefighters/athletes attained their goal of completing the five-part course in under two minutes, finishing with a team best 1:54. In doing so they shattered their previous competition record of 2:03 by 9 seconds.
Bishop, who is responsible for the first leg of the race (the high rise pack), said the team is extremely excited about its accomplishment in Lubbock, but must now turn a focused eye toward South Carolina.
“We’ve put a lot of work in already, but we still need to work a lot harder,” he said. “We’ve got three months to train and about 20 to 25 seconds to shave off.”
Bishop said the team needs to turn in a time of 1:30 to 1:40 to be in contention for a place on the podium. He said group is training hard to beat the odds and prove the Artesia Fire Department is among the best in the world.
“We’re going to go up there and make Artesia known for hard work and dedication,” said hose hoist specialist Bratcher. “I think we have the athleticism and work ethic to do it.”
He said many of the teams come from departments large enough to allow them to take paid time off work and channel all their effort into the competition. This places the Artesia crew in a tough spot as members must find time to train while completing their day to day duties.
“Some of (the other departments) don’t even touch fires and have their own personal trainers,” said Bratcher. “All they do is work out for the competition.” […]
