Columbus Fire and Rescue’s brand new trophy stands proudly in Fire Station 1, where it commemorates the quick actions of three firefighters — and one child from the Boys and Girls Club — who dispensed of a plate of 50 chicken wings in less than six minutes.

The real excitement for the firefighters who received the trophy from Buffalo Wild Wings Columbus location general manager Vincent Epps was that the three police officers competing against them only ate about 46 wings.

“It was close, but it came out to the ones who really wanted it more, and that was us,” Firefighter Harrison Branch said, speaking on behalf of his fellow firefighters who ate the wings. “It was the determination of the fire department that really put us ahead of the police department.”

“And our appetites,” fellow Firefighter Joe Besant added.

“Yes, we were hungrier,” Branch agreed.

The two teams were the main attraction at Buffalo Wild Wings’ fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Club on April 18. Epps said each year Buffalo Wild Wing restaurants around the country hold fundraisers for local Boys and Girls Clubs, with 10 percent of the day’s proceeds going to the nonprofits. This year, Epps and the other managers came up with a wing-eating contest between CFR and Columbus Police Department in the hopes of generating interest and encouraging more people to eat that day.

“It was a really fun day,” Epps said.

Building relationships

It was not the first time Columbus police officers and firefighters had met in the spirit of competition. The two departments have had a friendly rivalry going as long as many of their officers can remember.

“Departments have always (done) this,” CPD Chief Fred Shelton said. “I remember when I was a young officer, we used to play the fire department in basketball.”

CFR’s Public Information Officer Anthony Colom agreed.

“(The competition’s) been going on for a while,” he said. “I’ve been here 23 years and we’ve been doing it since I’ve been here — football, flag football, basketball.

“We beat them in everything,” he added.

Shelton’s not so sure about Colom’s claim. After all, he said, there have been multiple basketball tournaments and flag football games over the years.

“It’ll depend on who you ask,” Shelton said. “Of course, the police department will say, ‘We won’ and the fire department will say, ‘We won, and we won big.'”

But the competition is about more than a friendly rivalry, Shelton said. It helps the two departments bond so that when they respond to a call together, they already know and trust the people they’re working with. They know each other’s voices when they talk on the radio because they’ve heard them at sports events and wing-eating contests.

“We have some contact other than work,” Shelton said. “Because we played together. We kind of teased each other. You know, ‘Man, you were really slow’ or ‘Man, you were really good at that.’ It builds that camaraderie because we’re our family.

“We all work for the same city, we all work for the same people and we’re all concerned about the same thing,” he added.

Like the wing-eating contest, many of the competitions also serve as fundraisers. Shelton said the two departments have held basketball tournaments to help raise money for sick and injured members of each department. Something like the wing-eating contest to raise money for the Boys and Girls Club also encourages interaction with the community, something CPD in particular has been pushing over the last two years.

“It’s all friendly competition for a good cause,” Colom said.

Brittany Turner, who runs the Columbus branch of the Boys and Girls Club, said the fundraiser has been great for the organization and the kids — not only because it helped raise money, but because it helps the children form relationships and learn more about the two departments, which she said have always been supportive of the club.

“The fire department does a fire academy every summer with our kids,” Turner said. “Our kids love it. They get a T-shirt and they get an award at the end. … The police department comes as well and they speak to them, tell them the importance of safety and just being safe during the summer. So whenever I pick up the phone and call them, it’s never a no. It’s always a yes. … It’s great to have that support locally.”

Epps said he hopes to hold the wing-eating contest every year, with each department returning to either defend their title or take their rivals’ trophy. In the meantime, CPD and CFR are planning a softball game for July. Money from that game and the T-shirt fundraisers beforehand will go to CPD’s Police Explorer’s Program, a program which allows kids to work with officers and gain insight into the workings of a police department.

“Of course, if we win, they’ll be sour,” Shelton said. “If we lose, we’ll be sour, but it’ll be all a good time. Then we’ll say, ‘I’ll see you next time.'”

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