Fire Department Racing

[lijk604]

Not sure how many of you have heard of Drill Team Racing. Basically, from the first Saturday in June thru Labor Day, almost every Saturday the volunteer FD's from Nassau & Suffolk get together for competition.
Trick is, it's not what you would think with ladders & hoses, they throw in modified trucks...to propel them down the track to see who can get to the finish line first. Truck goes down track, team puts ladder into ground, man climbs ladder. Truck goes down track, lets off a few at the hydrant, lets off a few more by the target who try to hit a 4"x4" target with a stream of water. Oh did I forget to mention some of these trucks are doing 70mph down the track???

Here are some shots from today's drill. Please note this was my first time shooting these events with a DSLR, I had not been to an event for almost 5 years now. I did not have a lot of time, so I only watched the ladder events, next week if it's nice I'll stay for the hose events. Let me know what you think of them.

To see some video to get an idea of the speed, go to the "official website": http://www.nysdrillteams.com/

The slower "Class B" rigs (these guys only hit 30-40mph).




The much faster "Class C" trucks (up to 70mph!)




I love the reflection in this driver's helmet v


look at the tires crunch on braking v

a 3 shot sequence of how the run looks...

I know these 2 need some CCW but you get the idea.

[T-Bird76]

You got some nice shots there John, you really picked up the expressions on the players faces, nice job.

[AirtrafficController]

looks cool and extreme

[mirrodie]

John, was that off Hartford at Firemas Park in Lindenhurst? If so you were a mile from the office :)

Incredible shots!

[Art at ISP]

I was a FD man for 20 years, and supported my team when I was Captain. It was hard work, lots of practice, and tons of fun, but it was dangerous.

There is a public backlash against this kind of sport now due to all the budgetary crap, but it is good for morale, and actually serves to keep firefighting skills current--ie. ladders, hose handling, etc.

[lijk604]

John, was that off Hartford at Firemas Park in Lindenhurst? If so you were a mile from the office :)

Incredible shots!

Yes Mario it was, and I've seen your office plenty of times, guess one day I should stick my head in and say hello huh?

I was a FD man for 20 years, and supported my team when I was Captain. It was hard work, lots of practice, and tons of fun, but it was dangerous.

Still is dangerous, in fact, the team from Massapequa had an incident during their C-Ladder run. Apparently (word from one of the other teams racers who saw it) one of the guys had one foot slip off the "ledge" and hit the ground shortly after they took off. He took two other guys down with him. Here's the shot, the driver has no clue he lost members of the team. You can see the people in the shot are looking and pointing up the track instead of looking at the race.