Young firefighters from nine stateline fire departments competed in the vehicle extrication challenge today hosted by the Harlem-Roscoe Fire Protection District.

The North Park Fire Protection District team took first place in the competition. Teams were judged on incident command and scene size-up, among other skills needed when responding to an accident.

"Training's important for a lot of the younger generation coming up through the fire ranks," said event organizer Lt. Mike Huffman or Harlem-Roscoe Fire Protection District. "Some of them may not get the extrication knowledge. So we got together as a committee and come and up with, have this challenge for new teams, non-seasoned teams, for the young kids that want to get involved in vehicle extrication."

The winning North Park team will receive a plaque and a bid to go to the North American Vehicle Rescue Challenge in New York.