MISSOULA — Wildland and City of Missoula fire crews are serving the community in a different way for the 13th year by raising money for charity through their Fire on Ice hockey games.
"It's pretty nerve-wracking. The adrenaline's going. There's a lot of fans in the stands. You've got the Celtic Dragon band playing the bagpipes," wildland firefighter Rogue Swenson told MTN.
Since 2012, fire crews have been facing off on the ice.
"The initial creators, myself and Chris Kovatch, kind of had the game of 'Guns and Hoses' back in Great Falls where we grew up and we thought we'd bring it here," City of Missoula Fire Department Captain Brett Cunniff shared.
Since the game's inception, they've raised thousands for charity.
"We've been able to raise over $100,000 over the course of the years with the silent auction 50/50 and chuck a puck. It's very rewarding," Cunniff said.
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City fire teams are raising money for the Missoula Firefighters Benevolent Fund, which supports local organizations in need.
"In the past, we've done Jake's Army, Fired Up for Kids — various other organizations or causes that have come to our attention in the last couple of years," Cunniff detailed.
Wildland will be raising funds for the Wildland Firefighters Foundation.
"Family emergencies, if they get hurt in the line of work, really just overall assistance if needed," Swenson explained. "Last year, my crew raised money for a fallen Montana Wildland firefighters Memorial," Swenson added.
Even though they're battling on the ice for the Pulaski and Stein trophies, the games build comradery between City and Wildland, which comes in handy when they respond to the same calls.
"Every once in a while we'll work with the city on a wildland incident in the wildland-urban interface, so it's a way to develop friendship and comradeship with the folks and communication," Swenson stated.
Admission is free as always and the puck drops at 6 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 31 at the Glacier Ice Rink in Missoula
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