Longboat Fire and Rescue heats up chili cook-off

The Longboat Key Fire Rescue Department spent eight hours completing their “red tide chili” recipe.

Complete with Italian sausage, ground beef, onions, red and green peppers, garlic, jalapenos, poblanos, and spices, the recipe won third place in the best chili category at Morton’s Firehouse Chili Cook-Off on Oct. 16.  The team of 12 came up with the recipe themselves.

It was the rescue department’s first time competing in the 17th annual competition.  The department has tried to enter the competition the last three years, and luckily another team dropped out this year, clearing the way for Longboat to step up to the plate.                                  

“It was great,” Bryan Carr, president of the Longboat Key Firefighters Association said. “It was awesome, it had a huge turnout.”

In total, the Longboat team made 25 gallons of their chili and didn’t have any left over.

“We went through it all,” Carr said. “We had people coming up for seconds. It was pretty well received by the masses.”

The event benefited The Fire Fighters Benevolent Fund, which assists Sarasota County firefighters and their families during times of crisis. Fifteen stations competed in the competition. Southern Manatee Fire and Rescue won first place for Best Chili and People’s Choice.