IRON RIVER—The West Iron County Fire Department regained its championship at the annual U.P. Firefighters Tournament—with a little help from the angels.

The 114th annual U.P. Volunteer Firefighters Association tournament was held in Houghton July 24 to 26, and the WICFD returned home with a number of trophies, including the Leeman Trophy, emblematic of the overall championship at the U.P. tourney.

It’s the fifth time they have won it in the last seven years. They won in 2002, ’03, ’05 and ’06. They finished second to Champion in the 2007 tourney, held in Amasa. They didn’t participate in 2004 because they hosted the event in Iron River.

Skandia-West Branch finished in second place, and Caspian-Gaastra tied for third place (with Calumet Township), one of its best finishes ever.

But none of them could stop West Iron County, which won the overall title in the races as well as two of the three parades.

They were runners-up in the dress parade, the first event of the tourney, on Thursday evening. Firefighters were dressed in their best uniforms and marched (or tried to) through downtown Houghton. The judges put West Iron County in second—right behind L’Anse.

“L’Anse—they’re tough in the dress parade,” said West Iron County Chief Al Perlongo. “I’d like to see one dress parade to see how good they actually look, because they’ve been up around the top [nearly every year].”

Later that night, the shirttail parade brought out the wild side of the firefighters—along with their creative side.

The theme of this year’s tournament was “Firefighters walk where the devil dances,” and the departments were supposed to use that theme in their parade entries—it is one of the criteria by which they are judged. The same floats returned for the commercial parade on Saturday morning.

West Iron County’s float for both parades may have clinched the title. It featured a burning house with firemen at the front and back—one with a hose and one with an ax. A devil, with glowing red eyes, came out of a hole in the roof.

“We used lights from tip-ups,” explained Chief Al Perlongo, “and they were piercing. They came right through the smoke; you could hardly see that devil, but you could see those eyes sticking out. That was impressive.”

The devil, though, wasn’t allowed to do his work. At both ends of the house, the firefighters had angels standing next to them, with a hand on their shoulder. On the side, a sign explained: “The reason firefighters can walk where the devil dances.”

“The sign tells it all,” Perlongo said. “In the commercial parade, we took a first, and in the shirttail parade, we took first.”

Caspian-Gaastra may have gotten overlooked in the shirttail parade, but the CGFD was front and center Saturday morning, earning third place in the commercial parade.

“We had a lot of the children from the fire department all dressed up as devils,” said Chief Tony Tomasoski. “We had an old fire wagon from, like, the 1930s, and had some signs on it, with devils riding on the wagon and firemen walking next to it with extinguishers to put them out.”

As usual, the races had the biggest effect on the outcome. West Iron started out strong, winning a four-man hose roll in 31.77 seconds, about a half second faster than second place Skandia-West Branch. Crystal Falls took fifth place in 34.95.

“This year they changed it up,” said Rowdy Fish, West Iron’s race captain. Normally, it’s a hose relay, where firemen run back and forth, carrying coils of hose. “This year, four guys had to dress and roll four hoses and stack them all in the same circle.”

Next came the five-man ladder race, and Caspian-Gaastra won that one, getting everyone dressed, the ladder carried to the designated spot and a man up the ladder in 20.58 seconds—0.17 faster than second place Chocolay Township. “We did very well there,” CGFD Chief Tomasoski said.

West Iron was third in 21.15, and Skandia-West Branch was fourth in 21.59.

In recent years, SWB has been West Iron County’s biggest threat at firefighter tourneys, and they won the third race, the five-man coupling race, in 32.03. Chocolay Township was second in 32.24. West Iron came in fifth in 35.37.

Next was the five-man hose interchange race, which Calumet Township won the event in 1 minute, 7.27 seconds. Champion was second in 1:08.65, and Caspian-Gaastra took fifth place in 1:11.60.

West Iron got disqualified in that race because it didn’t have enough turns on the connection at the hydrant. “By about a quarter of a turn,” said Fish. “And we had the best time of the day.” Would have, anyway.

The final race, the mystery race, is always a well-kept secret until the fourth race was over. This time, firemen had to fill a pail mounted at the end of a 2-by-4—from a distance. They had to shoot the water into the air in an arc so it comes down in the bucket.

“We ended up putting one of our smaller fellows up on top of the shoulders of our bigger guys,” Perlongo said. “It worked out—we came in second.” Bruce Crossing won in 24.08, and West Iron was right behind in 24.63. Nobody else could do the feat in less than 28 seconds.

In all, West Iron had a first, a second, a third and a fifth in the races. It was the only department to place in the top five in four different races. Skandia-West Branch, Allouez Township and Calumet Township each placed in three.

“We had seasoned veterans running this year,” Fish said. “The guys showed a lot of poise. We practice about two months every year for that, twice a week.” The racers were Mike Goriesky Jr., Steve Gagnea, Jeff Andreski, Jeff Swenski, John Weston and Fish.

In the mystery race, Danny Marcell, in his first year in the races, climbed onto Goriesky’s shoulders to fill the bucket from about 30 yards away. “Danny was a key factor.”

Tony Bongi was race co-captain, and Rich Bekkala was stat man.

No surprise, then, that West Iron was first overall in the races, with Skandia-West Branch second. West Iron took a commanding point lead into the final event—the commercial parade—and won that one, too.

“For us, it’s an overall effort of the firefighters and their wives,” Perlongo said. “We spent many, many, many hours [on the house]. There were a few departments with homes like that, but I think ours was probably the best—the cutest. Almost like a gingerbread house.”

The Caspian-Gaastra F.D. finished third in the commercial parade. In the races, the CGFD won the five-man ladder race and was fifth in the five-man hose replacement race. It helped the department to take third place overall.

“Third was really good for us,” said Tomasoski. “We had 22 members in attendance for the whole tournament. It’s nice for the county—we had first and third out of the whole deal. That’s big out of 52 departments.”

One of Michigan’s most senior firefighters was honored throughout the tournament. Leo Remondini of the Caspian-Gaastra department was honored for 71 years of service to his department.

“He was honored throughout the tournament,” said Tomasoski, “for his dedication to duty. They had a plaque and an award for him.

“Seventy-one years as a firefighter and still active. He’s the oldest fireman in Michigan!”

• The 2009 tourney will be held in Florence, Wis., the first time the U.P. tourney will ever take place outside the U.P. (and outside Michigan, as well).

The Florence F.D. is a member of the U.P. Association and has taken part in the U.P. tourney for several years. The 2009 tourney will be held July 23 to 25.

Munising has been given preliminary approval for the 2010 tourney, and a number of departments are bidding for the 2011 event—including the Caspian-Gaastra F.D.. A preliminary site for 2011 will be chosen in Florence next summer.

Overall tournament: 1. West Iron County; 2. Skandia-West Branch; 3. (Tie) Calumet Township and Caspian-Gaastra; 5. Hancock.

Dress parade: 1. L’Anse; 2. West Iron County; 3. Negaunee Township; 4. Skandia-West Branch; 5. Forsyth Township (Gwinn).

Shirttail parade: 1. West Iron County; 2. Ontonagon; 3. Richmond Township (Palmer); 4. Chassell; 5. (tie) Gladstone and Skandia-West Branch.

Commercial parade: 1. West Iron County; 2. Skandia-West Branch; 3. Caspian-Gaastra; 4. Calumet Township; 5. Hancock.

Overall races: 1. West Iron County; 2. Skandia-West Branch; 3. Calumet Township; 4. Chocolay Township; 5. Allouez Township.

Four-man hose roll: 1. West Iron County, 31.77; 2. Skandia-West Branch, 32.30; 3. Allouez Township, 33.63; 4. Calumet Township, 33.69; 5. Crystal Falls, 34.95.

Five-man ladder race: 1. Caspian-Gaastra, 20.58; 2. Chocolay Township, 20.75; 3. West Iron County, 21.15; 4. Skandia-West Branch, 21.59; 5. Ishpeming, 22.68.

Five-man coupling race: 1. Skandia-West Branch, 32.03; 2. Chocolay Township, 32.24; 3. Negaunee Township, 34.75; 4. Allouez Township, 35.26; 5. West Iron County, 35.37.

Five-man interchange race: 1. Calumet Township, 1:07.27; 2. Champion, 1:08.65; 3. Breitung Township, 1:09.07; 4. Allouez Township, 1:10.95; 5. Caspian-Gaastra, 1:11.60.

Mystery race: 1. Bruce Crossing, 24.08; 2. West Iron County, 24.63; 3. Ishpeming Township, 28.80; 4. Calumet Township, 28.97; 5. Hancock, 30.84.