LFD Junior Snails Team Wins West Sayville Tourney

If you heard sirens heading down Wellwood Avenue late Sunday afternoon, then you heard the excitement over the ’s Junior Snails Fire Drill Team’s first-place win earlier that day in West Sayville.

The team received a victory ride on the engine that was part of the contingent of LFD officials, friends and families that headed east for the junior fire drill tournament on July 17 to cheer on the Junior Snails and their coaches – Dennis Brody, James Ciolino and LFD ex-chief Bill Kienle.

That contingent also included a very proud First Assistant Chief Mike McCloud.

“They had a ‘runaway’ win. They took first place in the junior tournament,” he said, adding that the Junior Snails earned 32 points total and took first place with a nine-point lead while competing in events similar to the regular fire drill competitions that include bucket races, the three-man ladder race and various truck races.

“It’s the same kind of events, but they’re running them on the ground. They have a cart with two wheels,” Coach Kienle explained.

The team competed with 11 other junior fire drill teams, including Bay Shore, East Islip, Islip Terrace, Central Islip, Blue Point, North Babylon, West Sayville, Islip, Medford, Selden and Hagerman.

“The team is about evenly split between boys and girls – 12 and 12 – and we have a good group of girls,” Kienle said.

The team is a source of pride as this season – which began in the of June – is ending with three consecutive first-place wins in a row, including Sunday’s win.

“They’re having a great season,” said Kienle, who recalled being on the Junior Snails team when he was a kid. “They tied for two of those weeks, and then this win. They’re at their peak performance. It’s exciting. The championship is in two weeks, and we're anticipating a strong finish.”

That’s the in which the team will compete, and it ends the 2011 . The LFD will host the in Fireman’s Park, and it’ll draw teams from Long Island, and even a few from upstate New York.