It usually takes some heavy muscle to budge a 19-ton fire truck and pull it 25 feet forward, but Father Riz Carranza of St. Mary's Catholic Church didn't let size become an issue at Saturday's charity engine-pull competition.

Carranza's team was among the top three fastest squads to compete in an annual challenge that draws a share of local police officers, firefighters, business people and their supporters. This year, nine teams competed in the 10th annual Fire Truck Pull.

At merely 5 feet tall, Carranza was mostly towered over by tall and bulky police officers and firefighters. Yet, he gave it his all, and grinned his way to the end of the line where the truck came to a stop.

“We got a good start,” Carranza said after finishing a pull with teammate Brett Barker. Carranza admitted his body would later feel the soreness during mass.

But all the effort is for a good cause, he said.

The event raised $5,600 - $600 more than

anticipated this year and almost $2,000 more than the previous year - all of which pays for local residents to compete in the state Special Olympics in Southern California.

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“We got more participation than ever before with all the teams and sponsors,” said Wes Maroney, a lieutenant with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department who organizes the event.

“The more money we can raise, the more Olympians we can help go to the Special Olympics,” he said, adding that other events also have contributed to the funds raised, including a Harley Davidson motorcycle raffle that has sold nearly 2,000 tickets. The motorcycle will be raffled Oct. 19.

The annual pull competition is part of a series of fundraising events known as the Law Enforcement Torch Run. Up until last year, the competition consisted of pulling an F-4 jet. Due to its unavailability, a fire engine truck was pulled this year on a short strip of pavement outside the Radisson Hotel at the Santa Maria Airport.

The Santa Barbara County Fire Department loaned one of its engine fire trucks - which weighs about 38,000 pounds. Coincidentally, the department walked away with the fastest pull time of 15.97 seconds.

“I think there's no technique in pulling it,” said Jason Toole, a fireman with the department's team. “You just gotta muscle it.”

The Radisson team came in second with a pull time of 16.16 seconds, and the St. Mary's team came in third at 17.49.

This year, the Santa Maria Fairpark was among the 13 sponsors to donate money to the cause. Fairpark CEO Dennis Pearson was among the competitors.

“It was great,” he said. “We agreed to sponsor again next year and so our team will be back again.”

To give it a twist, Maroney said he and Pearson are considering staging the truck pull competition at the Santa Barbara County Fair next year.

Luis Ernesto Gomez can be reached at 739-2218, or lgomez@santamariatimes.com

July 29, 2007