In 2022
In 2022, after the retirement of the late Dr. Paul O. Davis III, creator of the Firefighter Challenge competition, the program became a program of the First Responder Institute, a U.S. based 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organization.
Prior to receiving the program, an 18-month comprehensive assessment was conducted that included more than 1,500 stakeholders representing the fire service and a diverse number of industries, including experts from the sporting arena. The result was the adoption of a new and exciting model that would take the Challenge into the 21st Century and beyond as an official sanctioned sport known as the Firefighter Challenge League (FCL).
The Challenge underwent an extensive model transformation and was renamed the Firefighter Challenge Championship Series to better represent itself as a sport. Plans call for additional competition style firefighter themed programs to be developed and launched in the future to help further our mission by attracting even more firefighters with varying competitive interests. What began as a FEMA funded study in 1976, proudly continues today fulfilling the original purpose of Dr. Davis. Our Firefighter Challenge program is the original one and has been replicated by many others around the World.
In 2024, the global intellectual property, copyright, and trademark rights to the Firefighter Challenge were transferred to the First Responder Institute. This makes way for an exciting future for expansion on an international level along with uniting all existing programs using the trademarked name of Firefighter Challenge and Firefighter Combat Challenge. The future of the FCL has never been brighter!
our MISSION
our vision. our values.
OUR DRIVING FORCE
At their core, organization cultures are driven and shaped by an organization’s Mission, Vision, and Values.
Our Mission at First Responder Institute and the Firefighter Challenge Championship Series articulates our purpose and why we exist. Our Vision defines our “end goal” and the impact we seek to make in the communities we serve through everything we do. Our Guiding Values are those characteristics that we commit to as an organization, so that we develop a culture that aligns with our Mission and leads us closer to realizing our Vision.
Our Mission
To use creative creative fire service themed sporting events to showcase the strength and readiness of the fire service, help inspire the next generation of firefighters, and to promote the physical, mental, cardiac, and respiratory benefits that result from routine exercising, good nutritional habits, and job-based training regimens in the fire service.
Our VISION
Through sport we UNITE, CHALLENGE, INSPIRE, INNOVATE, AND ACHIEVE our Mission.
Our Values
ACCOUNTABILITY: We empower each other to take ownership of our actions.
INTEGRITY: We act with uncompromising honesty and integrity in everything we do.
COLLABORATION: We are more effective and impactful when we work together.
INNOVATION: We encourage thoughtful, creative, and inspirational ideas.
RESPECT: We value everyone and treat people with dignity and professionalism.
DIVERSITY: We value the uniqueness of people, cultures, work, styles, and talents.
GROWTH: We embrace opportunities to learn and improve.
It all began with
A RESEARCH STUDY
The Challenge was born the day that Chief David Gratz, Director of Fire/Rescue Services, Montgomery County, MD, walked into the Human Performance Laboratory at the Sports Medicine Center of the University of Maryland in July 1974. Present to greet him were Drs. Dotson, Santa Maria, and Paul Davis. Chief Gratz’s interest was immediate – he needed a validated test. The mission: develop a physical ability test to determine whether a job applicant had the requisite capabilities to perform the essential job functions of a firefighter.
With US Fire Administration funding, the research design was laid out. It required the cooperation of fire departments in seven Washington, DC, political jurisdictions, each providing a representative sample of firefighters proportionate to its relative size. Ultimately 100 randomly selected firefighters underwent a battery of fitness tests at the Human Performance Laboratory that included measures of cardiopulmonary performance and muscular fitness.
Concurrent with the fitness tests and with the assistance of the Maryland Fire Rescue Institute (MFRI), Drs. Dotson and Davis designed a criterion task test (CTT) employing five commonly performed or highly critical fireground evolutions. Each of the 100 firefighters performed the five tasks successively while wearing full protective ensemble (including SCBA) “in the same manner as at the scene of a fire.” After all testing, the results of the laboratory fitness measures were statistically correlated against the CTT performances. This landmark study demonstrated a high correlation between personal fitness and job performance. That was in 1976. In 1991, Dr. Davis hit upon an idea that would eventually become the Challenge. He had observed the competitive nature of firefighters during the initial testing back in 1976.
So, he thought, “why not devise a competition that would highlight the unique nature of the fire service and showcase the talents and capabilities of firefighters.” Under Dr. Davis’s leadership, more than 550 Challenge events were held in the U.S., serving thousands of firefighters from around the world. In 2022, Dr. Davis retired granting the Firefighter Challenge program to the First Responder Institute to continue as part of its mission.
