Firefighters Lauren Baer (52-A), Craig Kuykendall (82-A) and Ruben Lopez (MFC-C) participated in the 2013 Scott Firefighter’s Challenge in Hermosa Beach on September 21, 2013. The Challenge (which appeared on ESPN for a dozen years) annually attracts hundreds of U.S. and Canadian municipal fire departments at more than 25 locations. The competition seeks to encourage firefighter fitness and demonstrate the profession’s rigors to the public. Wearing “full bunker gear” and the Scott 5.5 Air-Pak breathing apparatus, pairs of competitors race head-to-head as they simulate the physical demands of real-life firefighting by performing a linked series of five tasks including climbing the 5-story tower, hoisting, chopping, dragging hoses and rescuing a life-sized, 175 lb. “victim” as they race against themselves, their opponent and the clock.
Scott Combat Challenge at