Westerners Wrangle Second Place in Fire Drill Tournament

The West Hempstead Westerners wrangled second place overall Saturday in the Hempstead Invitational Motorized Drill Tournament.

West Hempstead competed against more than 20 other teams from across Long Island, but it came down to a showdown between them and the Flying Dutchmen of West Sayville.

West Hempstead finished just three seconds behind West Sayville in the "3-Man Ladder" drill, and five seconds slower in "B Hose" with times of 6.50 and 7.74, respectively, to take second place in these events. 

However, the Westerners smoked the Dutchmen in "C Ladder," finishing seven seconds faster with a time of 21.74, and knocked West Savyille out of the top five in "C Hose" by grabbing fifth place. 

The Dutchmen won two more events, including Motor Pump, but West Hempstead stayed in the game by finishing fifth in this drill to earn a point and tied with Westbury in the Efficiency Hose drill for third.

But West Sayville secured their first place overall finish in the final event, "Buckets," an all-hands-in drill in which teams compete to see who can create the most efficient assembly line to transport water from a trough on the ground, up a ladder and fill an empty barrel suspended several feet in the air. The Westerners completed this feat in just 21.74 seconds, but were 44 seconds slower than the Dutchmen.

West Hempstead's stellar performance Saturday is just another high-note in a great 2012 racing season. They've amassed four wins and 43.5 points to put them in first place in the 2012 Nassau County Championship standings, in front of (Yes, you guessed it.) West Sayville.

Click through the gallery to the right to see the Westerners in action. Click on the "Upload Photos & Videos" button to add your own images and footage from Saturday's tournament too.