A friendly shooting competition was held at Clark Rifles near Hockinson. The competitors? Staff from the Battle Ground Police Department (BGPD) and Clark County Fire District 3 (CCFD3).
The two genres of first responders competed in pistol, assault rifle and precision rifle during the competition on Wednesday, Oct. 8. The police officers won the pistol shooting contests, the 50-yard assault rifle and the firefighters won the 100-yard assault rifle and both precision rifle contests.
Now, one would expect police officers who partake in numerous firearm training days throughout the year to perform well. But the group of firefighters who participated in the competition are some avid hunters.
The friendly competition was thought up by CCFD3 Fire Commissioner and Battle Ground City Councilor Shane Bowman, with the help of fire district staff, as a way to unwind and build camaraderie outside the workplace over a shared interest. Bowman said the competition will continue with other staff members unable to attend the Oct. 8 one due to shift rotations.
“We were just thinking of things that we could do to get the guys together outside of work where they see each other at work,” Bowman said.
Now that the shooting competition has ended in a tie, Bowman said that part two of the competition will step into a firefighter’s bread and butter. A cooking competition featuring various meats and desserts will commence soon for another installment of camaraderie. This time, over the shared love of a great dinner.
“Obviously, we work together every day in emergency situations, so it’s really cool when we get together under low-stress environments and just get to know each other so we know who we’re talking with on those scenes,” CCFD3 Chief Chris Drone said. “It just makes it go a lot smoother that way.”
Like usual, when these two groups of first responders get together, friendly banter is going to be a given.
“You’d expect that the police officers would do well on the pistols, and they did, but I think it also surprised a lot of police officers to see how well the firefighters did with their pistols,” BGPD Chief Dennis Flynn said. “Now, once we started getting in the rifles, we learned very quickly that the firefighters have some sandbaggers in their group and some guys that could shoot very, very well.”
But beyond that, Flynn highlighted the importance of putting names to faces and having fun honing in on skills.
Bowman said the sport of shooting is a great way to build camaraderie with police and fire, as the shooting skills aren’t too tactical-based.
“PD trains for the tactical purposes of it, you know, and this is more the sporting purposes of it and just having a good time,” Bowman said. “I think it’s a great sport. I think more people would like to do it. There’s just not a lot of places to do it.”
Drone highlighted the environment and staff at Clark Rifles.
“I’ve never seen a safer range, and I was in the Marine Corps for six years,” he said. “They are watching us like hawks, making sure that we have a safe environment to do this in. So shout out to them.”
For Flynn, the occasion also allows both police and fire personnel to have confidence in each other during a violent encounter, as precision in a shooting sport demonstrates meticulous attention to detail and an emphasis on safety.
“We do live in a time when violent encounters can happen,” he said. “The police and the fire both train for that. By doing this together, there are going to be times that both entities will arrive on a scene and now have equal respect for each other’s disciplines and feel confident in knowing that, God forbid, if we do have to come into some type of encounter, that we know what the skill sets that each possesses are. And that ultimately they’re training to make sure that our citizens are afforded the very best protection possible.”
