Team OPFD Brett Kampmann, Bob Russell, Micah Jensen, Pat Schibler, Morris Duffy

Overland Park's Firefighter Combat Challenge Team captured second place in the relay event at the World Championship.

The team won first place at the regional Firefighter Combat Challenge competition in Evansville, Indiana in 2005.

This competition attracts hundreds of U.S. and Canadian fire departments each year at more than 25 locations and is seen worldwide on ESPN.

The challenge encourages firefighter fitness and demonstrates the profession's rigors to the public. While wearing full bunker gear and breathing apparatus, pairs of competitors simulate the physical demands of real-life firefighting by performing a linked series of five tasks including climbing the five-story tower, hoisting, chopping, dragging hoses and rescuing a life-sized, 175 lb. "victim" as they race against themselves, their opponent and the clock.

Overland Park has a history of performing well at these challenges. Firefighter Bob Russell holds the world record, set in 2001, in the individual open category.