IN Chartiers Valley Spring 2014 | Page 10

Firefighter Places Third in World Firefighter Combat Challenge Chris Cerci hopes his example encourages other firefighters to take fitness seriously. Once I started doing the training, the adrenalin rush was great, and I decided to go for it. A few decades ago, as a new arrival to Pittsburgh, Chris Cerci lived in Bethel Park and would often drive by Bethel Park Fire Department’s main station along Brightwood Road. The station’s sign would catch his eye until one day, he did something about it. “I thought, ‘I’ll stop in and see what membership means,’” Cerci recalled. “I stopped in to see what it’s all about… But once I started doing the training, the adrenalin rush was great, and I decided to go for it.” Just weeks later he was on his first call