The episode was recorded in February around Valentine’s Day and aired on April 20.<\/p>\n
“The experience was amazing,” Larese said. “It was really fun going up there with a group of guys that I worked with. That\u2019s why we went as far as we did because we are all close. We trusted each other with answers.”<\/p>\n
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Five firefighters from the Erie Fire Department competed on the FOX gameshow “The Quiz with Balls.” From left to right: Judah Gardner, Nate Gardner, Dion Larese, Micaiah Gardner and David Bowers.<\/p>\n
Negative comment: In Season 5 episode, “The Boys” takes jab at Erie despite city’s declining overdose rates<\/a><\/p>\n How did the Erie firefighters get on ‘Quiz with Balls’?<\/p>\n It was through a school friend of Larese that the firefighters got their opportunity in the national spotlight.<\/p>\n “Thanks to our calendar release, I got a message from a guy I went to grade school with that lives out in L.A. and works for Fox,” Larese said. “He then asked me about this show and to find four more people to create a team.”<\/p>\n Larese gathered four additional firefighters, including three brothers, to create a team to represent the fire department.<\/p>\n After the firefighters got official word that they would be on the gameshow, they flew out to Amsterdam and then bused up to Belgium where the show was recorded.<\/p>\n Firefighters vs. nurses<\/p>\n Larese said the theme of this episode was focused around first responders as the firefighters competed against a group of nurses.<\/p>\n “Mainly these teams are friends or groups of people who work together,” Larese said.<\/p>\n For those who aren’t familiar with the show “The Quiz with Balls,” two teams of five are put on a stage where they stand on a high platform over a glistening pool. The teams face multiple choice questions where the answer is allocated to a spot with a giant ball positioned behind it.<\/p>\n If the team picks the correct answer, the ball rolls down and just stops before colliding with the player. But, if they choose the wrong answer, the ball whacks them into the pool below.<\/p>\n Five Erie Firefighters traveled to Belgium to compete on the FOX gameshow “The Quiz with Balls” and compete for $100,000. From left to right: David Bowers, Judah Gardner, Nate Gardner, Micaiah Gardner and Dion Larese.<\/p>\n “If the ball hits you, it knocks you into a pool and then you are down a player,” Larese said. “It goes back and forth between the two teams and the last team standing gets to go on to the golden balls which gives you a chance at $100,000.”<\/p>\n Larese said the team made it one question away from the golden balls round. However, the firefighters say the water was refreshing.<\/p>\n “It was really hot in the studio so it was nice to be pushed into the water,” Larese said. “We did plan that if we won the $100,000 we would go up the stage and jump in together. It was great chemistry and we had a blast.”<\/p>\n Erie Firefighters walk away with $33,000<\/p>\n At the end of the show, the firefighters did not walk away empty-handed. They received a grand total of $33,000 which gave each firefighter $6,600 for personal use.<\/p>\n Had they won the $100,000, Larese said they planned to purchase a firetruck to convert into a party bus.<\/p>\n The other prize that the firefighters said they walked away with was the experience which didn’t stop at the gameshow. They extended the trip a few days to do some traveling around Belgium.<\/p>\n After competing on the FOX gameshow “The Quiz with Balls,” five firefighters from Erie took a trip to Belgium and Amsterdam. Pictured are, at front, Dion Larese, and, at back left to right, Judah Gardner, Micaiah Gardner, David Bowers and Nate Gardner.<\/p>\n Good publicity for Erie<\/p>\n Not only was the episode a fun experience for these firefighters, but they said the show brought good publicity to Erie.<\/p>\n More: Erie County fire station receives nearly $1 million in federal funding<\/a><\/p>\n “Toward the end of the episode they mention, ‘The firefighters from Erie, Pennsylvania are gonna make $100,000 or get wet,’ and obviously we got wet,” Larese said. “But it was great that they said Erie and that we got to represent the fire department. We\u2019ve been getting a lot of messages over this episode.”<\/p>\n How to watch the Erie Firefighters on ‘The Quiz with Balls’<\/p>\n If you missed the episode with the firefighters, you can stream it on Fox.com<\/a> with a subscription or seven-day free trial or on Hulu<\/a> with a subscription.<\/p>\n Contact Nicholas Sorensen at Nsorensen@usatodayco.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Five](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1cc09c622d9f615c6783c6102d7e95cb.jpeg\"\/)
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