Recap of the Lynbrook Old Fashioned Drill on 6/11

by Justin Chichi

The Old Fashioned season started with a few bumps…one being the weather and the other being the timing equipment with a dead battery. The skies opened up around 4:30 and the head official gave the team captains the word that “the day was going to be pretty rough and we would try to get the drill in.” Thirty minutes later, a vote was in place to run 3-Man Ladder and Running Cart Ladder. Only three teams voted to run ladders (Miller Place, Amityville, and Lakeview). Looking at the digger website, there seems to be some discussion regarding the decision. History does show that the events have been run in the rain, but safety is an important goal for all fire departments to have. Nevertheless, it stopped raining five minutes after the decision was made.

Other than that, the tournament hit the ground running (literally) with Running Hose. Miller Place was the one team in the 11’s despite the slick conditions. The teams in the top five gave around a 5.5-6.0 stick down for the nozzle-men, hence the close times by Freeport (Clamdiggers), Lakeview, Amityville, and Freeport (Nighthawks). Next was Running Hose Replacement – probably the most competitive event at the tournament – with 2 teams in the low to mid 20’s and a team record 22.68 by the Cold Ducks. Being one of the most difficult events, it was great to see all that the teams took their spring practices seriously.

Efficiency Replacement had some interesting times with Miller Place leading the pack with a 24.90 and the rest of the top five mixed in between 26 and a mid-28. The top teams to this point were Miller Place with 12 points, the Nighthawks with 11 points and Lynbrook with 6 points.

Efficiency and Two Into One would decide the day’s outcome, as they usually do. Miller Place blew off at the hydrant while Lynbrook and the Nighthawks had two solid shots in the high 9’s. Two Into One had some great runs by the top five with every team in the low to mid 9’s. Malverne beat their team record while the Freeport Nighthawks locked in their first place finish.

Going into Buckets, the teams vying for second place (Miller Place, Malverne & Lynbrook) were all very close. Miller Place put up a 26.38 with a dropped bucket, which locked them into second place for the day. Malverne and Lakeview put up the other two 20’s of the day posting a 28.04 and 29.39 respectively.

Overall, the final standings were:

1st Place – Freeport Nighthawks – 18 Pts.

2nd Place – Miller Place Extinguishers – 17 Pts.

3rd Place – Malverne Chipmunks – 15 Pts.

4th Place – Lynbrook Tumblers – 14 Pts.

5th Place – Lakeview Sparks – 11 Pts.

It’s obvious from the outcome of this tournament that the Old Fashioned game is going to be very competitive this year. They’ll meet again at the Battalion Drill in RVC hosted by Malverne, which also happens to be in celebration of their 100th Anniversary, with a quick stop at their town tournaments.

There are a couple questions to get us going to start the season: Who will be going for the “very get-able” 10.50 Running Hose record? And, who will emerge as the best Nassau County Old Fashioned team?

I hope you're all as excited as we are to find out.