TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Teams throughout Florida competed in Tallahassee this weekend for the 25th annual Florida Lineman Competition.
More than 200 electric utility workers competed Saturday at Apalachee Regional Park.
“We don’t climb every day like we used to, and this comes out and shows us climbing and doing our job, and people seeing what real line work was about,” Line Foreman Randall Crum said.
The competition includes real-world scenarios to help sharpen their skills while competing. Crum has been a lineman with the City of Tallahassee for 24 years.
“They see us out in the field in buckets and stuff like that, but they don’t see this side of what we can do and what we do day in and day out,” Crum said.
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The event also gave spectators a chance to see the work required by linemen when responding to outages, particularly in areas that aren’t easily accessible.
“This is how we restore power. We’ve got to climb,” Crum said. “If we have to climb, it takes a lot longer. It’s a lot more dangerous. We’re physically on a pole instead of in a bucket. We’re isolated.”
The City of Tallahassee linemen have competed for the past 24 years, winning 59 trophies altogether. Crum has participated every year and said this competition allows them to network with other agencies.
“It’s made it a lot better for us because we’ve got friends all over Florida,” Crum said. “We can make phone calls if we need help. Any time storms come, we get to be able to talk to anybody we need. This is more like a brotherhood to us.”
The day finished with teams attending an awards banquet for the competition.
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