Tri-Cities Fire

Tri-Cities Fire
Established 2018
Folded 2020
Played in Kennewick, Washington
at Toyota Center
GoFireFootball.com
League/conference affiliations
American West Football Conference (2019)
Current uniform
Team colorsBlack, red, gold, white
       
MascotSparky
Personnel
Owner(s)Rampage Sports Entertainment, LLC
(Kinshasa Martin)
General managerAndy Allord
Head coachKevin Heard
Team history
  • Tri-Cities Fire (2019)
Championships
League championships (0)
Conference championships (0)
Division championships (0)
Home arena(s)

The Tri-Cities Fire were a professional indoor football team based out of Kennewick, Washington, with home games at the Toyota Center during the 2019 season.[1] They were owned by Kinshasa Martin of Rampage Sports Entertainment, LLC.[2] They folded in February 2020 after playing one season, citing lack of support from sponsors and ticket sales.[3] They were the second arena/indoor team to play in the Tri-City region preceded by the Tri-Cities Fever of the NIFL, af2 and the Indoor Football League and followed by the Tri-City Rush of the AWFC.

History

On October 15, 2018, the American West Football Conference was founded by the Idaho Horsemen and added the Fire and two other teams to the league: the Reno Express, and Wenatchee Valley Skyhawks.[4][5] The Fire were the first indoor football team in the Tri-Cities following the departure of the Tri-Cities Fever of the Indoor Football League in 2016. Despite being announced in October 2018, they were one of the last AWFC teams to sign a lease with the arena in January 2019.[6]

Their season began on March 23, 2019, in a 42–24 loss at Reno. After a 0–5 start to their inaugural season, the Fire fired head coach Warren Reynolds and was replaced by defensive coordinator Kevin Heard.[7] The Fire finished the season losing all twelve games. The team abruptly folded two weeks prior to the planned start of the 2020 season.[8] They would be replaced a year later by the Tri-City Rush.

2019 standings

Final standings.[9]

2019 American West Football Conference
Team W L PCT PF PA GB STK
y — Idaho Horsemen 12 0 1.000 597 331 — W12
x – Wenatchee Valley Skyhawks 6 6 .500 461 381 6 W2
x – Reno Express 6 6 .500 339 396 W1
Tri-Cities Fire 0 12 .000 303 592 12 L12

y – clinched regular season title

x – clinched playoff spot

Playoffs

Semifinal Final
3 Reno Express 20
3 Reno Express 28 1 Idaho Horsemen 40[10][11]
2 Wenatchee Valley Skyhawks 27

References

  1. ^ "Indoor football team reaches Tri-Cities deal". Tri-City Herald. January 29, 2019.
  2. ^ "Western US based indoor football league forming for 2019". Arena Football Talk. October 21, 2018.
  3. ^ "Tri-Cities Fire Facebook post February 26, 2020". Facebook. February 26, 2020.
  4. ^ "A DECISION HAS BEEN MADE". AWFC Insider. October 15, 2018.
  5. ^ "Western US based indoor football league forming for 2019". Arena Football Talk. October 21, 2018.
  6. ^ "Indoor football league considers new Tri-City team". Tri-City Herald. December 15, 2018.
  7. ^ "Tri-Cities Fire brings a new coach and a new attitude in quest to get first league win". Tri-City Herald. May 22, 2019.
  8. ^ "THE TRI-CITIES FIRE UN-EXPECTANTLY CLOSES UP SHOP!". AWFC. February 28, 2020.
  9. ^ "AWFC Standings". AWFC. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
  10. ^ "Express v Horsemen (first half)". Facebook.
  11. ^ "Express v Horsemen (second half)". Facebook.