At Firemen's Muster, Duty Calls for Tisbury

By MARK ALAN LOVEWELL

West Tisbury volunteer firemen placed first at the Dukes County
Firemen's Muster on Sunday. This was their third consecutive win.
More than 200 people gathered at Waban Park in Oak Bluffs to cheer
firemen from five Island towns and a visiting team from the town of
Carver as they competed for top honors in the annual competition.

vspace="8" border="1" align="right">

It wasn't just an exercise. Included in the event was a call
to what was thought at first to be a serious fire at the E&E Deli at
Five Corners. At 12:44 p.m., Tisbury firefighters and their fire truck
went screaming down Seaview avenue toward the scene in the next town.
"It was a copious amount of smoke and no fire," chief John
Schilling said afterwards. "They had over-roasted coffee
beans."

Tisbury firemen made quick time to get back into the competition.

West Tisbury firemen dominated the competition in two of the three
events. The muster winner is always the team with the lowest total of
points; they were the fastest, and accumulated the low score of 160
seconds.

The up-Island team came in first in the Midnight Alarm and the Truck
Hose Lay.

vspace="8" border="1" align="left">

The Midnight Alarm required firemen in each team to start the
contest lying down on cots. A horn was sounded. Firemen rose, donned
their firefighting gear and went out a door.

They then set up hose lines and aimed them at two targets.

Oak Bluffs was the first team to start, but the team had to restart
when a lack of water pressure caused enormous problems. They
couldn't knock down the obstacles with the stream of water from
their hoses. The judges decided to correct the water pressure issue and
let Oak Bluffs try again.

In a second try, the Oak Bluffs team completed the task in 77
seconds.

West Tisbury completed the Midnight Alarm event in just 63.5
seconds. Second-place Chilmark took 10 seconds longer.

vspace="8" border="1" align="right">

The Biff rescue event required powerful lifting skills. Firemen had
to set up their firefighting hoses, shoot a target and carry a 170-pound
dummy in a stretcher across a finish line. Tisbury won that
muscle-straining competition with a time of 46 seconds. Chilmark came in
second with 52 seconds. Oak Bluffs, just one second behind, placed
third.

The third event, Truck Hose Lay, put West Tisbury into the top
position by a mere half-second, with a time of 42.5 seconds. The event
required firemen to pull a small plywood fire truck across the field
loaded with hoses.

The overall champion was West Tisbury, having completed all three
events in 160 seconds. Chilmark took second with 170 seconds and Oak
Bluffs finished third with 177.5 seconds. Edgartown and Carver
didn't place.

vspace="8" border="1" align="left">

In the ladies' competition, the team from Carver beat the
Vineyard ladies, 43 to 57 seconds.

The firemen's muster dominated the grassy Waban Park. An
Edgartown fire truck flew an American flag from its ladder, extended
high above the field. Skies overhead were cloudless. Suntan lotion was
passed among the participants and the spectators. James Moreis, an Oak
Bluffs fireman, and members of his extended family cooked hamburgers on
a grill.

Tisbury ambulance coordinator Jeff Pratt, master of ceremonies,
provided interludes of contemporary music between the events on a
powerful sound system. "I thought the competition went really
well," Mr. Pratt said. "They really tried hard. But
I'll tell you I'd like to see more people show up," he
said.

vspace="8" border="1" align="right">

This is the second year the event has been held in September. In
years past, the competition took place in July, and attendance was
heavier. But organizers said a summer event is just too much trouble
amid all the business of the season. Years ago, Cuttyhunk firemen also
attended, making it truly a gathering of the county's firemen.

Oak Bluffs fire Lieut. Mark Alwardt, 42, assisted other fire chiefs
with the judging. "I can't tell you how many years I have
done this," Mr. Alwardt said. "I went looking in my drawer
and found T-shirts from past events. I found T-shirts from 1989, 1994,
1992 and 1999.

"There are a lot of local people here. There are a lot of
Islanders," Mr. Alwardt said. Participating fire chiefs, acting as
judges, included Dennis Alley from Oak Bluffs, Walter Delaney from
Aquinnah, Manny Estrella from West Tisbury and David Norton from
Chilmark.

vspace="8" border="1" align="left">

The Tisbury muster squad received the John R. Christopher
Sportsmanship Award, for being good team players. Nicky Fullin, one of
the organizers of the muster, said the Tisbury firemen were most
deserving because they worked so hard to make the muster happen. Plus,
he said, they went out to fight a fire, came back and were in the
competition. And last but not least, the Tisbury squad also hosted the
firefighters' meal at the American Legion Hall later that day.

"The people were fantastic. The fans were super," said
Mr. Fullin.