Fire Truck Pull Ropes In $22,000 So Far

The Fire Truck Pull held in Lawrenceburg benefits Special Olympics Indiana Ripley-Ohio-Dearborn.

A team attempts to pull the Lawrenceburg Fire Department truck at Saturday's Fire Truck Pull to benefit Special Olympics Indiana in Lawrenceburg. Photo by Jimmy Laub.

(Lawrenceburg, Ind.)  - They came. They pulled. They raised money.

Teams from across the area participated in Saturday’s Fire Truck Pull to benefit Special Olympics Indiana Ripley-Ohio-Dearborn.

Dozens of teams took turns attempting to pull a 74,000 pound Lawrenceburg Fire Department ladder truck a distance of 50 feet on East High Street in downtown Lawrenceburg in the shortest amount of time.

The fastest pull of 15.3 seconds was by the team from the Aurora Recreation Community Center. Team Drew featuring Special Olympian Drew Schnebelt, family and friends clocked in a 16.24 to place second. Third place went to the 16.7 second performance by the Whiskey City Rope Burners, consisting of Lawrenceburg city employees and area firefighters.

Team Drew raised $6,751 for Special Olympics Indiana, with team member Chris Powell turning in $3,000 alone. Drew Schnebelt led Special Olympians with $1,280 raised.

South Ripley High School won the High School Challenge for fundraising.

After all the pulling was completed, the fundraising gross totaled approximately $22,000, according to event organizer Greg Townsend.

An award was also given to the team with the lightest combined weight. Team Aaron, led by athlete Aaron Russell, weighed-in at 1,355.4 pounds among several team members.

Eagle Country 99.3 was proud to be a media sponsor of the 2018 Special Olympics Indiana Fire Truck Pull.

Photos by Jimmy Laub: