On Nov. 11, the Albert Lea Fire Department Combat Squad traveled to Las Vegas to compete against firefighters from across the globe to battle for the title “Best of the Bravest.”

The Combat Squad is made up of five members of the Albert Lea Fire Department: Capt. Kurt Wallace, Doug Johnson, Brett Boss, Trevor DeRaad and Dennis Glassel. The squad qualified to represent Minnesota earlier in the season at a regional qualifier in Sioux Falls, S.D.

While in Las Vegas, the team went through two days of wild-card qualifiers to try to make it to the finals. The top 64 teams in the world qualified for the finals, which will be aired on the VS cable network in January.

The members of the Combat Squad qualified for the finals and had to go head to head in a single-elimination bracket against the 10th rated team in the world from Halifaz, Canada. The local team won that match-up and advanced to the top 32, but went down in the next round.

The squad broke the state record by more than four seconds and was declared Minnesota State Champion.

The event will be aired in a four episode mini-series on the VS cable network (Charter channel 35) on the following dates:

Episode 1 — Saturday at 3 p.m. and Monday at 4:30 p.m.

Episode 2 — Jan. 10 at 3 p.m. and Jan. 12 at 4:30 p.m.

Episode 3 — Jan. 17 at 3 p.m. and Jan. 19 at 4:30 p.m.

Episode 4 — Jan. 24 at 3 p.m. and Jan. 26 at 4:30 p.m.