SKANEATELES - The Skaneateles Volunteer Fire Department needs a new tanker pumper. To help get it, they called in their friends from other departments in the area, went out in row boats on Skaneateles Lake and tried to sink each other with fire hoses turned on full blast.

Sink the Boat, a friendly competition between area fire departments, was part of Skaneateles' Firemen's Field Days, the department's biggest fundraiser of the year. The two-day event continues today with fair rides in Austin Park, a chicken barbecue and live music.

The festival was shifted from Sunday and Monday to the weekend to make it a family event, said Skaneateles Fire Captain Eric Sell. But at Sink the Boat Saturday, it was all about supporting your fellow firefighter.

“Fire departments are just one big brotherhood,” said Bob Taylor, a lieutenant of the Waterloo Volunteer Fire Department. “So many times during the year we're together for the wrong reasons.”

Nearby departments often work together when back-up is needed at big fires, but rarely get around to socializing, he said.

Saturday, the friends and family of area departments mingled and looked on as teams of firefighters tried to simultaneously drench the competition while preventing their own boat from sinking.

Niki Warne rung out her hair after her team, from West Niles Fire Department, was eliminated.

“I was tricked,” Warne joked, a pair of soggy jeans in her fist.

Warne agreed to come as a stand-in for her husband, Troy, who is a member of the department but had to work Saturday, because she was told West Niles needed one more participant, she said, but the department was able to compete in two teams. The West Niles department is like family, she said, “everybody's neighbors.”

Warne and the rest of the West Niles crew left empty handed. Amber Fire Department's team, the reigning champs, took first place, with Owasco trailing behind. Waterloo's team came in third.

Amber Lt. Chris Schaber said the department does not practice. “We're water people,” he said.

He credited the team's success to their town's lakeside location. But, he said, “You gotta have some good hose control.”

While there is a strong emphasis on camaraderie and Labor Day weekend fun, the field days serve an important purpose to the Skaneateles department.

“We don't ask taxpayers for money,” Sell said.

The department raises funds on its own to pay for new vehicles. Tanker pumpers can run anywhere from $200,000 to $1 million, Sell said. The one Skaneateles has its eye on runs about $250,000.

It will probably be another two years before the department brings home a new tanker pumper, Sell said.

Might as well have fun in the meantime.

Staff writer Sarah Gantz can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or sarah.gantz@lee.net

If you go

What: Firemen's Fire Days

When: Today: 9 a.m., tractor pull; noon, chicken barbecue; noon-1:30 p.m. pushball; 4 p.m. parade; 5:30-10:30 p.m. Great Music Company; 6:30 p.m. Bucket Brigade; 8:45 p.m. sports awards; 9:15 p.m. raffle drawings; 0:15 p.m. fireworks.

Where: Austin Park, Skaneateles

Details: www.skaneateles.com