Lake Charles emergency responders earn national recognition

February 18, 2005 - PPG’s Lake Charles, La., chemicals complex touts Louisiana’s No. 1 man and woman firefighters, according to results of the Firefighter Combat Challenge sponsored by a manufacturer of firefighting equipment and broadcast by ESPN.

Cheri Ardoin and Lucas Barrow, both operators and emergency squad volunteers at the plant, earned the No. 1 rankings based on individual performances in the Firefighter Combat Challenge.

The competition involves a series of five firefighting tasks: climbing a five-story tower, hoisting, chopping, dragging hoses and rescuing a life-sized, 175-pound “victim.”

In addition, a women’s relay team and three firefighters from a local community fire department earned a national No. 2 ranking by outperforming 13 other teams (pictured in the photo on the right). That team also earned a No. 5 international ranking among 11 teams competing for the United States, Canada, England, Germany and Italy.

A team of Lake Charles’ men qualified and competed in international competition and earned a ranking of 78 out of 480 teams. The team comprised of a shift safety supervisor and plant operators (shown below).

“We were extremely proud of our performance,” John Floyd, a shift safety supervisor, said. “We were the only team of industrial firefighters in Louisiana and one of the few in the nation. And we were competing against some excellent municipal firefighting squads.”

Jim Rock believes there are none better than the emergency responders at Lake Charles.

Lake Charles has about 120 volunteer emergency responders, members including front-line employees through managers. Each “E-squad” member is trained in the four emergency disciplines: fire, medical, rescue and hazardous materials. They have a full array of emergency response equipment, including a fully equipped ambulance, according to Rock, Lake Charles’ director of environment, health and safety.

“I’ve seen them respond to emergencies. They seem to have a sixth sense and show up within seconds of an accident,” Rock said. “If I were struck by serious injury or accident, there’s no other place on earth I’d rather be than the Lake Charles complex. It’s the highest tribute I can pay to our in-plant emergency squad.”