RAPID CITY – Locals can win money and prizes while helping support Rapid City’s Firefighter Challenge Team at the same time.
Firehouse Skybox recently began Saturday night Bingo along with a King of Diamonds contest with a percentage of the proceeds going to the city’s firefighter challenge team.
“With our business located in Rapid City’s first fire station, we wanted to do something that would bring people in to have fun but also somehow support our first responders,” said Firehouse Brewing Company managing partner Bob Fuchs.
The Firefighter Combat Challenge (FCC) is a competition that was built to test firefighters’ physical fitness with job applicable skills. The mission of the FCC is to promote, showcase, and publicly celebrate the selfless spirit and extraordinary fitness levels of America’s elite firefighter heroes and heroines in an exciting and entertaining sports competition.
“Rapid City has had a team on and off since the early 2000s and has been competitive through many of those years,” said Mitchell Hove, Lieutenant with the Rapid City Fire Department. “This last year we took seventh as a 
team in the world and our highest ranked individual was ranked 27th.”
The team competes on 100 percent sponsorships with the money raised helping offset travel expenses. “This next season, we will need to raise nearly $20,000 to compete as much as we would like to as a team. Our next competition is in April in Indianapolis. We are working hard through our offseason to get stronger, faster, and raise enough money to compete as much as possible.”
Every Saturday, Skybox hosts a bingo night starting at 6 p.m. Cards are $1 or $5 for six cards. Along with the weekly Bingo, the sports bar has a King of Diamonds progressive pot, with a name drawn each Saturday at 8 p.m. That person chooses a card with the goal of picking the King of Diamonds. Tickets are $5. The minimum prize is $1,000 with the potential to grow over $100,000. A portion of both games will go to the local firefighter challenge team.
Firehouse Skybox is located on the third floor of the Firehouse Brewing Company, 610 Main St.
