Iowa had — then lost — its claim to a world’s record a few years ago, but there will soon be an attempt to win back the title for most people perfoming the “stop, drop and roll” fire safety maneuver.
Brian Bishop, of the Iowa State Fire Marshal’s Office, says hundreds of volunteers will be needed for Iowa to make the record-winning attempt.
“We previously had claimed the stop, drop and roll record in August of 2011 at the Iowa State Fair and that was broken by the Indianapolis Fire Department just a few months later in 2011,” Bishop says. “Iowa would like to reclaim the stop, drop and roll record.”
Iowa will try to win back the title this Saturday at the Iowa Speedway in Newton. Bishop says there will be plenty of incentives to get folks to help out.
The race track will be providing fan access to certain areas that normally require an extra fee, like the Fan Walk, and there will be free t-shirts and other things, he says, that are above and beyond.
Iowa Hawkeyes’ sportscaster Gary Dolphin emceed Iowa’s then-record-winning event in 2011 at the Iowa State Fairgrounds as everyone simultaneously performed the stop, drop and roll maneuver which you are to go through if you are exposed to fire.
Bishop provides more detail about the history of this particular world record:
“The first world record was held by Bedford, Indiana, before we broke it in 2011, it was around 602 people,” he says. “We broke it in 2011 with 1,519 people and that was since broken by the Indianapolis Fire Department with well over 1,600 people.”
He’s hoping at least 17-hundred Iowans will take part in the effort to give Iowa the title for the second time, and in the process, help to publicize the potentially-life-saving maneuver. Learn more at: www.iowaspeedway.com
By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City