Firefighters from all over Southern Arizona are coming together for the 26th annual Tucson Firefighters Chili Cook-Off.
They gathered at Reid Park, Saturday morning at 11, with proceeds going to the Tucson Fire Adopt-A-Family program and the Holiday Food Box drive.
Paramedic with the Tucson Fire Department and Director of Charities for the Tucson Firefighters Association Robert Carroll spoke with KGUN 9 about his enthusiasm for the cook-off.
“With our firefighter chili cook-off, we are blessed to have lots of sponsorships,” Carroll expressed, “Anywhere from Tucson E.R., Barstool Sports is here, Renewal by Andersen, as well as fire departments and fire stations from all around Tucson, serving chili, and some other goodies.”
This event featured many kinds of different types of chili, plus live music and college football.
“Yeah, this thing is a blast! Every year, every year comes on. We’ve got great music.” Carroll shared. “We’ve got great fun. It’s a family event everybody is welcome. We’ve even got puppies here. But it’s always a blast and we go all day.”
Events like the chili cook-off raise more than $60,000 for the Tucson Firefighters Adopt-A-Family program, which helps well over 1,000 Southern Arizona families during the holidays with food, clothing, shelter and Christmas presents.
“So, this is a charity event for Tucson firefighter charities.” Carroll explained. “All the proceeds today go to our holiday food box drive, as well as our adopt a family program that we do every year in the holiday season.”