The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

100 skydives for a cause sets Ohio record

Firefighter performs  100 consecutive skydives to raise money for training program.

Joe Frolick makes his 22nd jump of the day Friday, Sept. 4, at the Warren County Airport in Lebanon. Frolick made 100 jumps within 12 hours to set an Ohio record. An avid skydiver and professional firefighter in Indianapolis, Frolick wants to raise money and awareness for Cyanide Poisoning Treatment Coalition, a nonprofit that aims to increase awareness about the risk of fire smoke cyanide exposure.

Staff photo by Gary Stelzer Joe Frolick makes his 22nd jump of the day Friday, Sept. 4, at the Warren County Airport in Lebanon. Frolick made 100 jumps within 12 hours to set an Ohio record. An avid skydiver and professional firefighter in Indianapolis, Frolick wants to raise money and awareness for Cyanide Poisoning Treatment Coalition, a nonprofit that aims to increase awareness about the risk of fire smoke cyanide exposure.

ENLARGE PHOTO

Photos: Man makes 100 jumps in 12 hours

Lebanon honors police officer of the year
12:13 p.m.
Sheriff to target drug trafficking on highways
11:59 a.m.
Ohio can finally collect $2.3M in fines
10:22 a.m.
Top grads plan challenging careers
10:17 a.m.
Fewer in region filing for bankruptcy
9:49 a.m.
> More headlines

By Justin McClelland and Danielle Wilson, Staff Writers Updated 10:47 PM Friday, September 4, 2009

Joe Frolick made 100 touchdowns Friday, Sept. 4, but he wasn’t on a football field.

The 34-year-old Wayne Twp., Ind., firefighter set an Ohio record Friday by performing 100 consecutive skydives over a 12-hour period at the Warren County Airport.

To perform his feat, Frolick had to make a jump approximately every eight minutes. He used a small propeller plane that took him between 2,500 and 3,000 feet in the area — lower than some of the more spectacular freefall dives that can start from upwards of 12,000 feet.

As soon as he landed, Frolick quickly shed his parachute, jogged across the field and strapped on another, usually in less than a minute. Frolick hopped back on the plane and was back in the air.

A record-keeper showed some of Frolick’s early jumps were performed in less than six minutes from touchdown to touchdown.

As he made his jumps, a team of volunteers restuffed the six parachutes Frolick had on hand.

“I don’t think it’s set in yet,” Frolick said after his final, record-setting landing.

He made the jumps to raise money for the Firefighter Smoke Symposium, a training program of the Cyanide Poisoning Treatment Coalition that teaches firefighters to safely deal with potentially deadly chemical smoke often prevalent in modern fires.

Frolick hoped to raise $10,000 for his cause through his jumping, but won’t know until a final tally is made later.

“As a firefighter, he’s very passionate about issues that affect firemen and smoke inhalation is a serious issue that there’s never been much awareness about,” said Shawn Longerich, the coalition’s executive director.

Organizers said about 50 firefighters showed up at the airport to participate in the symposium.

Frolick said the airplane, equipment and training had all been donated by Start Skydiving, which operates out of the Warren County Airport in Lebanon.

Share this article