Firefighter Scouts join in annual ‘water fight’
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Two teams composed of members of Maryville’s newly formed firefighter Explorer post battle it out during a “water fight” Monday evening on the courthouse square. The annual event, which also welcomed firefighters from across Nodaway and Worth counties, was hosted by Maryville Public Safety and the Polk Township Fire Protection District.
Things got wet and wild on the Maryville square Monday evening during the annual “water fight” and hot dog feed hosted by the Maryville Public Safety fire division.
Several rural fire and rescue agencies participated in this year’s event, including Polk Township, Parnell, Barnard, Worth County, Union Township (Pickering), and West Nodaway (Burlington Junction).
The annual competition involves small groups of firefighters dressed in full turnout gear who use water spurting from a high-pressure hose to push a small pulley-mounted barrel along a 15-foot-high cable toward a designated marker before an opposing team can do the same thing in the opposite direction.
While the game is designed as a training exercise, most of the firefighters participating in the annual event are old hands, and the night is more about team building and fellowship than honing long-mastered skills.
However, this year’s water fight was a little different, since it gave the 40 or so firefighters in attendance a chance to check out some new blood.
For the first time, teams composed of members of Maryville’s newly formed Explorer Post 222 and Explorer Club 1222 donned fire-resistant coveralls and helmets, grabbed a pair of hoses, and hit the street.
Sanctioned by the Pony Express Council of the Boy Scouts of America and sponsored by Maryville Public Safety, the groups serve young people, both boys and girls, in grades 6-8 (Club 1222) and 9-12 (Post 222).
Unlike a regular Scouting unit, the new club/post focuses strictly on firefighter and crisis response training rather than the traditional BSA program involving camping, hiking, and the earning of merit badges.
One of the group’s leaders, MPS volunteer firefighter Matt Johnson, who teaches history at Northwest Missouri State University, said the unit currently serves about 10 boys and girls and has been meeting twice a month at the Maryville fire station.
Those gatherings include hands-on training with various pieces of firefighting gear, including different kinds of hoses and nozzles, air tanks and masks, and turnout gear.
For the present, the young people are wearing fire suits borrowed from Maryville and Polk Township firefighters, most of which are at least a size or two too large.
Johnson said fundraising efforts are under way to procure some used youth-sized suits and helmets, a campaign that has already picked up support from the local Optimist Club.
In addition, the post is planning a car wash this fall to raise money that will likely be used for field trips and other activities.
Efforts over the summer, Johnson said, have included team-building exercises and a search-and-rescue simulation.
Regardless of the training level they eventually achieve, the Explorers will not be summoned in the event of a fire or other actual emergency, said Capt. Phil Rickabaugh, MPS fire division supervisor.
However, he added that the goal is to make the program comprehensive enough that young people who stick with it will be able to sign up as fully trained volunteers as soon as they turn 18.
Scouting’s Exploring program was originally designed as a vocation-oriented experience for young men in college and high school. In northwest Missouri, however, the initiative has faded since its heyday in the 1960s and ’70s.
According to Scouting officials, Maryville’s firefighting post is the only such unit currently chartered in rural northwest Missouri.
The local organization is something of a throwback to a similar Explorer group that existed in Maryville nearly 40 years ago, the members of which were actually called up to assist with support tasks during the 1979 Administration Building Fire on the campus of Northwest Missouri State University.
Parents or young people interested in learning more about the club and post should call the Pony Express Council office in St. Joseph at 816-233-1351.
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Explorer Scouts dressed in full turnout gear take aim at a pulley-mounted barrel Monday evening during the annual Maryville Public Safety fire division “water fight.” About 40 firefighters and their families from Nodaway and Worth counties attended the yearly event on the downtown square.
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Wyatt Walker, second from left, and Ashton Coulter, right, members of firefighter Explorer Post 222 and Explorer Club 1222, climb into their turnout gear prior to Monday’s Maryville Public Safety “water fight.” Participation in the annual competition was a first for the new Scouting organizations, which were organized early this summer.
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
The children of area volunteer firefighters munch on freshly grilled hot dogs Monday evening during the annual “water fight” on the Maryville square. The competition involves small groups of firefighters who use high-pressure hoses to push a small pulley-mounted barrel along a cable toward a designated marker before an opposing team can do the same thing in the opposite direction.
