NOT LIFE OR DEATH

From the pressure of competing against 650 of the most fit firefighters in the world to the stamina and skill needed to lug hundreds of pounds of gear through a rigorous training course, those participating in the Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge know the weight of their sport.

They must carry a 175-pound dummy, a 50-pound drum and a fire hose filled with water under high pressure over a course designed to test their life-saving abilities.

And to win, they must do it faster than anyone else.

The weeklong firefighter challenge that started Tuesday at the Fremont Street Experience draws the best of the best from fire departments all over the United States, Canada, Germany and New Zealand.

They have come to duke it out in individual and team events, hoping to return home as world champions.

Kansas resident Mary Hicks clapped and howled as firefighters decked in full gear and oxygen packs raced up five flights of stairs and hoisted a 50-pound drum up the tower Wednesday afternoon.

"I think blue has got it," she yelled, as the firefighters sped through the relay.

Hicks and her retired firefighter husband, Basil, happened to be in town during the event. She leaned against the course's barricades with about 200 other spectators and firefighters cheering on the competitors.

"We didn't even know about this," she said. "This is pretty awesome."

The Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge has been testing firefighters' speed and endurance for 18 years.

It attracts thousands of competitors of all ages and skill levels who qualify in regional or national competition.

For senior firefighter Rob Holah of the New Zealand Fire Service, it's a chance to showcase eight months of hard training and weeks of counseling from other top teams abroad.

Holah and some of his 13 team members spent three days with a San Francisco fire department sharpening their times on drills and learning techniques to teach firefighters at home.

"We want to do it right," he said. "We've all come and made personal best times. We're competing on a world stage. It's brilliant."

Other firefighters didn't have to go far to compete.

Las Vegas Fire Department Capt. Dina Dalessio is one of about 50 Southern Nevadans competing during their free time. To some, the real-life course events mimic challenges they could have faced in the field hours before.

"Some of them just got off work and came straight here," she said of her teammates.

Dalessio, who has competed about four years, said running the course is intimidating, adrenaline-charged and addictive all at the same time.

"It's a high," she said of finishing the course. "You just want to do it again."

Most competitors said the camaraderie and the real-life events make the challenge unique.

Massachusetts fire Capt. Paul Weinbergh said competing has made him better at his job.

"I can't just go to the gym and not have a goal," said Weinbergh, who is a grand national champion. "To me, this was the right choice."

He said about 66 percent of firefighter deaths at work are heart attacks, and he used the challenge as an opportunity to avoid being a statistic.

"This thing beats you up ... beats you down," he said. "You expect a young guy to do well. but a lot of guys my age really get out there. You're getting the cream of the crop."

Contact reporter Maggie Lillis at mlillis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279.