Fire And Wood Organizer Expects Repeat Performance

Less than a week after packing the with youth ready to battle it out for trophies, the organizer of the Fire and Wood Sk8boarding Competition said he’s ready for a second go around.

“Yes, we are doing another in the future,” said Dave Miller in a post-event e-mail.

Miller said he’d like to wait for the free helmets children and teens signed up for at the Jan. 29 event to come in and get distributed first.

“Then we will start planning after helmets are distributed and dust settles.”

The first-time event was originally scheduled for Dec. 18, but was rained out. Miller, a Pasco County firefighter, put together the event that was hosted by the Ian Tilmann Foundation, Pasco County Firefighters Local 4420 and the Pasco County Parks and Recreation Department.

“I am a skateboarder and so are my kids,” Miller explained in an earlier interview. “We love getting together with other skaters and competing. That is the reason why I wanted to do this, because we don’t have anything like this here.”

The Ian Tilmann Foundation is a nonprofit formed to honor the memory of Ian Lee Tilmann, a skateboarder who died following an accident in which he was not wearing a helmet. The foundation now seeks to change skaters' attitudes about helmets. It also provides free helmets to youth, which was one of the functions of the Jan. 29 event.

The competition was open to youth under age 8 all the way up to 16 and above. Children ages 8 and under all received prizes for participation. Youngsters 9 and up were ranked, based on their division.

The following participants won trophies at Fire and Wood:

• Skaters Ages 9 to 12 – Nick Wallace, first place; A.J. Doll, second; Taylor Nguyen, third; Jordi Zapata, fourth; and Luke Scheid, fifth.
• Skaters age 13 to 15 - Miles McKinney, first; Robby Lewis, second; Alejundro Burnell, third; Jullius Jimenez, fourth; and Austin Robles, fifth.
• Skaters 16 and up - Jack Pickrem, first; Malachi Macera, second; Jeremy Benavente, third; Calvin Thomas, fourth; and Jean Paul, fifth.
• Sponsored skaters - Haze Miller, first; Anthony Henderson, second; Piro Sierra, third; Jimmy Mastrocolo, fourth; and Yonis Molina, fifth.

Editor's note: To see more Fire and Wood photos, visit our gallery.