In 1970, Carroll Shelby’s International Chili Society sanctioned the Terlingua World Championship Chili Cook Off. Over a half-century later the Society is now challenging firefighters across the US to compete in a so-called Firehouse Chili Challenge in Myrtle Beach in September of this year.

I’m not sure what connection Myrtle Beach has to the world of competitive chili.

My father was a firefighter and a chili cook of uncommon valor and I know that men in that field take their chili very seriously. A gang of burly, hairy men sitting around a firehouse watching boxing on TV and cooking mammoth kettles of chili has long been a trope of American life.

Are you a firefighter who takes a lot of pride in their chili? Inquire here