After nearly one year of planning, the Pensacola Beach Firefighters Challenge, presented by Wells Fargo Advisors, was held on April 9th. Picture perfect weather and a challenging, but fair course greeted the nearly 100 competitors from across the Southeastern United States. Pensacola Sports, Wells Fargo Advisors and both the Escambia County and City of Pensacola Fire Departments partnered to develop the first time event.

The course included five obstacles which firefighters train and practice for every day, including forced entry, charged hose pull, kaiser sled, dummy drag and a hose hoist. The unique characteristic to this event was that all obstacles were done in the sugar white sand of Pensacola Beach.

Fourteen teams competed in the relay division. Each person completed one obstacle and then passed a spanner wrench (scoring device) to the person waiting at the next obstacle. A total of 37 firefighters participated in the individual category, in which a single person had to complete the course by himself/herself.

The Apopka Fire Department (Apopka, FL), comprised of Cody Minchey, Dylan Spencer, Zeynel Alvarado, Christopher Lenahan and Sean Knapp won the team competition with a time of 1:56. Joel Richardson with the Escambia County Fire Department (FL), won the individual category with a time of 1:51. The top finishers are listed below.

Team Category:
1st Place – Apopka Fire Department (Apopka, FL) – 1:56
2nd Place – Bay County Fire Department (Bay County, FL) – 2:01
3rd Place – City of Pensacola Fire Department (Pensacola, FL) – 2:05

Individual Category:
Overall – Joel Richardson (Escambia County Fire, FL) – 1:51
Age 18-25 – Josh Bell (Bay St. Louis Fire Department, Miss.) – 3:01
Age 26-32 – Nick Gradia (Escambia County Fire Department, FL) – 2:51
Age 33-39 – Sean Knapp (Apopka, FL) – 2:33
Age 40-over – Chris Overton (Pensacola Naval Air Station, FL) – 3:39

Other events included an emergency vehicle display, a kids hose challenge, team check-in social, participant pub crawl and a blood drive.The Wells Fargo Advisor's stage coach was also on-site, offering free rides.

Planning has already begun to host the 2nd annual Pensacola Beach Firefighters Challenge, presented by Wells Fargo Advisors, on Pensacola Beach in the spring of 2017.