| Tri-Cities Fire | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| General information | |||
| Founded | 2018 | ||
| Folded | 2020 | ||
| Headquartered | Kennewick, Washington at Toyota Center | ||
| Colors | Black, red, gold, white | ||
| Mascot | Sparky | ||
| GoFireFootball.com | |||
| Personnel | |||
| Owners | Rampage Sports Entertainment, LLC (Kinshasa Martin) | ||
| General manager | Andy Allord | ||
| Head coach | Kevin Heard | ||
| Team history | |||
| |||
| Home fields | |||
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| League / conference affiliations | |||
| American West Football Conference (2019) | |||
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.45 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 | 401011 | ||||
| 2 | Wenatchee Valley Skyhawks | 27 | |||||||
References
References
- "Indoor football team reaches Tri-Cities deal". Tri-City Herald. January 29, 2019.
- "Western US based indoor football league forming for 2019". Arena Football Talk. October 21, 2018.
- "Tri-Cities Fire Facebook post February 26, 2020". Facebook. February 26, 2020.
- "A DECISION HAS BEEN MADE". AWFC Insider. October 15, 2018.
- "Western US based indoor football league forming for 2019". Arena Football Talk. October 21, 2018.
- "Indoor football league considers new Tri-City team". Tri-City Herald. December 15, 2018.
- "Tri-Cities Fire brings a new coach and a new attitude in quest to get first league win". Tri-City Herald. May 22, 2019.
- "THE TRI-CITIES FIRE UN-EXPECTANTLY CLOSES UP SHOP!". AWFC. February 28, 2020.
- "AWFC Standings". AWFC. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
- "Express v Horsemen (first half)". Facebook.
- "Express v Horsemen (second half)". Facebook.