Klein Fire Department held its Annual Pumper Race at the Klein High School on September 13^th.  This year’s motto was “Safety First”, as safety is key in all aspects of the Fire Department.  The Annual Iron Man Competition drew eighteen members from the department that competed and put their skills to the test.  The Iron Man Competition is an individual timed event that challenges each competitor to an obstacle course utilizing their fire fighting skills and determination.  The 2003 competition was all new and included seven challenges for each participant to complete, which included dragging 200’ of 2 ½ fire hose, crawling in an attic and ended with a 60’ drag of the 145 lb Rescue Rich. Chris Marchiando was awarded the Iron Man T-Shirt as the winner of the competition.  Each competitor in the Iron Man competition will be presented with a T-Shirt imprinted with “I survived Iron Man 2003“ or “ I almost survived Iron Man 2003”.

Lunch was provided during a break between events and allowed members to chill out and rest up for the afternoon team events.

Each of the seven Klein stations had a chance to compete in five events, which included the blindfold shoot, hose rolling, a bucket brigade, teamwork event and a sled race.   The events focus was teamwork, having fun and even getting a little wet. Events are timed and points were awarded at the end of the day. The results and awards will be presented to the department during the Departments General Business Meeting in October.  Awards are given for 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd place in each event.  The station with the most points overall is presented with the Chiefs award and 1^st and 2^nd place overall runners will be resented with a plaque.

The annual event is held each year to allow our members and their families to get a break from their every day activities and show off their skills and have a little friendly competition between the stations.  The weather turned out great this year and the rain stayed away plus a few who attended did end up wet by the end of the day from events.  Some of the new Klein members “Rookies” did get dunked at the end of the day in the portable tank of water.  “Welcome To The Fire Department”

A special thanks to the Klein High School Newspaper for covering the event and look forward to the article placed in the school newspaper.  A “Thank You” goes out to all that work hard to plan the event and insured it went off without a hitch.  We all look forward to the 2004 event.