Five members of the Pleasant Prairie Fire & Rescue Department have qualified to compete in the 2008 World Challenge XVII, to be held on November 14. On Friday, September 12, firefighters Mike Cook, Dustin Ellis, Lt. Ryan Holm, Aaron Longrie and Wayne Pitts competed as a team in the 2008 Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge - Midwest Regional Challenge, held in Greenfield, Wisconsin. The team competed, along with 27 others, to earn the right to advance the competition's World Challenge XVII.

In order to qualify, firefighters must complete a linked series of physical challenges within a qualifying time limit while wearing full bunker gear and breathing apparatus. The Pleasant Prairie team completed their fitness course with an official time of 0:01:50. The course is designed to demonstrate the physically demanding aspects of the firefighter profession. On their website, the organizers describe the Challenge's mission as seeking to "…encourage firefighter fitness and demonstrate the profession's rigors to our stakeholders- the citizens who support their local departments."

Competitors climb to the top of a five-story tower carrying a 42-pound pack. They hoist a 42-pound hose roll to the top of the tower, and then descend to the ground floor. Here, they swing a 9-pound mallet on the end of a 160-pound steel beam. Next, they zigzag through 140 feet of simulated hydrants to a fourth station, where they advance an attack hose a distance of 75 feet. To complete the course, competitors drag a 175-pound "victim" 100 feet to the finish line.

The event is sponsored by the Paul Davis Charitable Fund, Inc. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Wisconsin Burn Camp for Children and the Wisconsin Burn Survivors Network. More information about the event is available online at FireFighterChallenge.com.