In 2003, the Junior Firefighter Challenge underwent some changes. Now sponsored by the Connecticut Rivers Council of the Boy Scouts of America, the event was officially renamed the Explorer & Junior Fire/EMS Muster & Challenge. The Challenge was moved to the Connecticut Fire Academy training grounds in Windsor Locks, Connecticut and held on November 2, 2003.

The Junior Fire Challenge was a competition open to junior and explorer fire and EMS programs from around the state. The Challenge consisted of six timed events, some of which tested skills in firefighting such as properly following a hose line through a series of obstacles, and some of which that were more fun than a test of essential skills, such as the Bucket Brigade Event. In all events, teamwork would naturally be essential.

Nineteen teams from all around the state competed against each other in the six individual events, with awards given to the team in each event who completed the evolution in the fastest elapsed time. Time penalties could be given for infractions. The team who turned in the fastest combined time for all six events would be awarded a Best All-Around award for their accomplishment.

The Junior Firefighters from the Simsbury Volunteer Fire Company entered the competition as the two-time defending champions. Several members from the 2002 team returned to participate in 2003, and Kellan Boudreau was selected to captain the team. With the Junior's already having a required regular Fire Company drill to attend every Monday night, and with the competition now taking place in Autumn instead of the Summer, practices for the Challenge were limited to Sunday afternoons only, so as not to disrupt school work and activities.

	Erin Komidar starts to cross the ladder bridge followed by Mindy Mathiason.		The team works to get the basket, and themselves, over the wall.

A beautiful Autumn morning had turned overcast by the time Simsbury started their first event, the Stretcher Relay. In this event, a six-member team would have to carry a Stokes Basket containing a weighted dummy through an obstacle course. The basket was not allowed to touch the ground or move towards the next obstacle or finish line without all six members being in physical contact with the basket.

The Juniors exit the maze trailer while maintaining physical contact.

The second event was the Hose Maze Crawl in the Connecticut Fire Academy's maze trailer. While blindfolded, a three-member team would have to follow a charged hose line to the end while navigating several vertical and horizontal obstacles. All three competitors had to stay in constant physical contact with each other or they would receive a time penalty.

	Racing to fill the barrel during the Bucket Brigade event.

By the time the Bucket Brigade event came, the day had turned cold and very overcast. This was not exactly what you might want when you are about to get very wet. In this event, six team mates would have to fill buckets at a static water source and then carry them to a barrel and fill it.

Midnight Alarm was an event that simulated how firefighters must sometimes spring from their sleep and into their gear, and then an apparatus to head off for a call. Four participants start the evolution laying on their cots. With the start, they must all don their boots, coats and helmets before advancing to the apparatus, where the must get seated and secure their seatbelts to stop the clock.

Knocking over the cone during the Hose Line Drag.

	Many hands make for easier work when repacking 5" supply hose.

In the Hose Line Drag, a three-member squad had to drag a charged hose line to a mark, and then knock a cone over with the fire stream.

The last event was the Hose Bed Repack. In this evolution, four team mates had to correctly and neatly reload a 200' length of 5" supply line back into the hose bed on top of an Engine.

The day's events were not over for Simsbury however. Simsbury was informed that they were tied with the team from Wolcott in the Hose Maze Crawl, and a run-off was needed to decide a winner for the individual event. Amazingly, Andrew Albert, Joel Lagan and Steve Savarese improved their time through the maze on the re-run by thirty-one seconds. Unfortunately the team from Wolcott improved their time by an incredible forty-three seconds, thus winning the Hose Maze Crawl event.

The Hose Maze Crawl team from Simsbury waits to present Wolcott the trophy for the event.		Steve Savarese, Simsbury team captain Kellan Boudreau, Joel Lagan and Andrew Albert congratulate Wolcott.

At the awards presentation, in an incredible display of sportsmanship and class, the participants from Simsbury in the Hose Maze Crawl requested that they be allowed to present the team from Wolcott who bested them in the run-off, with the trophy for winning the event. Both teams congratulated each other on a job very well done.

While their tremendous effort in the Hose Maze Crawl wasn't enough to win that event, Simsbury's Junior Firefighters did manage to win two of the other events, out of the six. In the Hose Line Drag, it took Andrew Albert, Kellan Boudreau and Joel Lagan only six seconds to advance the hose line and knock the cone over. In the Midnight Alarm event, Kellan Boudreau, Maggie Boudreau, Erin Komidar and Mindy Mathiason finished in forty-nine seconds, being the only team to complete the evolution in under a minute.

Simsbury's Junior Firefighters turned in competitive times in each of the other three events. This consistency, along with excellent team work and sportsmanship, earned them their third-straight Best All-Around Junior Firefighter Challenge Championship.

Congratulations to the Junior Firefighters and their Advisors for winning the 2003 Junior Firefighter Challenge, and thank you for representing the Simsbury Volunteer Fire Company in such an exemplary manner.

Midnight Alarm Event Winners Erin Komidar, Team Captain Kellan Boudreau, Mindy Mathiason & Maggie Boudreau			Hose Line Drag Event Winners Joel Lagan, Team Captain Kellan Boudreau & Andrew Albert