It really was a dark and stormy night last week when 33 firefighters from throughout the state arrived at to compete for one of 13 coveted spots on the 2013 .
But things got real steamy real fast.
After a round of questions — some serious, some risque — from a panel of media personality judges, the contenders changed from dress blues to bunkers for the segment where each hopeful does his or her level best to leave a lasting impression.
And the antics set the predominantly female audience on fire. Figuratively speaking, of course.
Lee Maulsby of had perfect attendance from kindergarten through college, from which he graduated summa cum laude. So he strolled out into the runway dressed as a geek, complete with taped-up glasses, a bow tie, and baggy trousers hitched up to mid-chest by a pair of suspenders. An outfit that quickly came off to reveal that just because a guy wears a pocket protector doesn’t mean he has a wimpy body.
Colt Smith of showed he can douse any flame by pulling two huge, water-soaked sponges from his trouser pockets and wringing them out on his torso. Smith also revealed that he can consume a dozen doughnuts and a half-gallon of milk in less than 10 minutes.
Tony Cardenas of the , who is also an adventure race competitor and has run jungle marathons in Ecuador and Guatemala, passed long-stemmed red roses to the female judges while Chris Zienkievicz, also from South Metro, tossed Dalmatian dog toys and Hershey’s Kisses into the audience.
Charlie Keller, from the , who has a black belt in martial arts, didn’t just walk the runway, he did several backflips along the way. The department’s Loren Schuessler appeared with a fire hose that shot glitter into the crowd and Robb Kvitek () channeled Jack Palance’s feat at the 1992 by doing a set of one-armed push-ups. Kevin Carson, who weighed just 2½ pounds when he was born prematurely, showed his sense of humor by including Big Hunk candy bars in the treats he tossed out.
The judges also learned that Jose Arredondo () had been a Marine Corps martial-arts close-combat instructor; that Scott Roahrig () recently won his first mixed-martial-arts fight; and that the fire station where he works isn’t the only place that Don Conyac hears alarms.
One went off in the middle of the night at the hotel where he and his bride were spending their wedding night. And guess what happened 25 years later, when they were celebrating their anniversary in France?
Yep.
So who will be Ms. January or Mr. July? The identities will be revealed in August when this benefit for the Children’s Hospital Burn Center continues with an announcement party and autograph session at a location to be determined.
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com; blogs.denverpost.com/style; Twitter:@GetItWrite
