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BISBEE — There wasn’t a fire, but a hose shooting 130 gallons of water-per-minute cooled off firefighters, family and friends during the Bisbee Fire Department muster Saturday.
The “firefighter Olympics” was held during the Bisbee Fire Department’s centennial anniversary, celebrated by local firefighters and residents.
After a morning parade, a festival continued the celebration in Warren Park, where artifacts from the 100-year-old fire department were on display in Vista Park. On Friday, the department held a golf tournament as part of the celebration.
Hose nozzles, bells, air tanks and trucks had all been saved since the department’s early years, said Mark Perez, a firefighter and the centennial event coordinator.
  
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When the department became Arizona’s first full-time, paid crew in 1908, carts pulled by horses were their only transportation to a fire, Perez said.
In 1916, the department got a motorized truck, complete with a bell and crank siren.
A 1941 Bisbee fire truck was also on display. The truck was one of only two ever made with a narrow front end.
Nearby, the Freeport McMoRan mining company had photos of the historical fires fought by the department, including the 1908 fire that destroyed much of Main Street and the Moon Fire earlier this year.
In the afternoon, firefighters from the Bisbee, San Jose District and Naco fire departments donned fire suits for friendly competition during the muster.
During the first event, teams of firefighters faced each other and worked to move a barrel hanging from a wire using the stream from the high-pressured hoses, said Tom VanDriel, firefighter and paramedic.
“It’s really hard to keep the nose stream right at the barrel,” he said.
The games were just for fun, but the teamwork showed what firefighters strive towards, he said.
“When you are attacking a fire, you do have to act as a team,” he said.
REPORTER Laura Ory can be reached at 515-4683 or by e-mail at laura.ory@svherald.com.
