By Mike O’Neal
Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee)
Copyright 2006 Chattanooga Publishing Company
Fundraising and having fun were inseparable ingredients of the fourth annual Firehouse Chili Cook-Off held Sunday at the Chattanooga Market.
“This is probably our funnest fundraiser,” said Nanon Morrison, district director for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. “It just keeps getting bigger and better.”
In exchange for a $5 donation, marketgoers received a plastic spoon and a taster’s ticket.
That piece of ember-orange paper allowed an individual to sample and vote for a favorite from five chili recipes prepared by teams from the Chattanooga Fire Department.
More than beef, beans, tomatoes and chili peppers were stewed to make Sunday’s concoctions. Each team had its own special, and sometimes secret, ingredient.
When asked what made the Controlled Burn chili from Fire Station 19’s Hook-N-Ladle team, Lt. Michael Davenport said, “It’s love.”
Anthony Moore, a member of team St. Elmo’s Fire from Fire Station 14 — “in an attempt to protect the public” — disputed the lieutenant’s claim.
“You been out to the landfill lately?” he asked. “It’s similar to that (Controlled Burn chili).”
The highly competitive firefighters’ incendiary words were issued in jest, as the day was devoted to continuing a more than 50-year tradition of firefighters supporting MDA.
Last year’s record of raising $6,166 for the local MDA chapter was surpassed by Sunday’s $9,750 total, Ms. Morrison said. All money raised stays in Southeast Tennessee and Northwest Georgia, she said.
In addition to chili, city fire engines, the new fire boat and firefighter gear were on display.
One of those enjoying the event was 4-year-old Garrett Liles, whose mother, Kelly, and father, Keith, are both firefighters with the Chattanooga Fire Department. Garrett was dressed in tike-sized turnout gear, complete with an “airtank” fashioned from an empty soda bottle.
“We can’t get him out of it,” Ms. Liles said. “He wears it to preschool.”
A member of last year’s winning Cadets team, Ms. Liles this year supported her Fire Station 10’s Guns and Hoses unsuccessful entry, Sweet Chili o’Mine.
For the first time, two trophies were awarded this year. Mayor Ron Littlefield presented the People’s Choice award, and Fire Chief Wendell Rowe presented the Chef’s Choice award.
Both awards went to the No Hesitation team from Fire Station 1’s recipe for High Rise Chili.
“We used the same recipe that won last year when we were rookies,” Station 1 firefighter Terry Knowles said. “We feel better having won the chef’s choice. That should silence the critics.”
Mr. Littlefield said he considered himself “a connoisseur of chili” and on announcing the winner said, “Firefighters know heat, they know fire and they know how to cook.”
Mr. Littlefield’s wife, Lanis, said it was too hard to pick a single favorite and offered a suggestion.
“Dump it all together into one big vat,” she said. “Make it not just Chattanooga’s best chili, but the world’s best.”