Keeping his word

Incoming Newport Beach Police Chief John Klein felt the burn as he climbed a 100-foot fire truck ladder after he lost a friendly bet with Fire Chief Steve Lewis.

It all began at the Corona del Mar 5K race on June 4. City police and fire personnel ran in the event. “I started trash-talking and [Klein] said, ‘Let’s get a side bet going,’ ” Lewis said.

So at high noon, behind City Hall, with police, firefighters and other city workers watching, Klein ascended the ladder parked behind Fire Station 2. He was barely winded by the exercise.

“I figured if Chief Lewis could do it when he was a child, I could now,” Klein said.

The only snafu for the seasoned officer came when he tried to hang a flag at the top of the ladder, which was the final part of the challenge. The sign eventually hung upside down.

Lewis had anticipated losing. The police had come in 23rd place out of more than 225 law enforcement agencies at the 2007 Baker to Vegas run in April.

Police had a trophy crafted for their expected win.

The piece features a giant eagle, wings spread, perched on a wooden base.

However, the eagle has landed on the front desk of the Fire Department’s administration building, where it will stay until the police win it back.

Had Lewis lost, officers would have served him a light lunch inside one of the City Jail’s holding cells.

The police, Lewis said, would “come out next year with both guns blazing and maybe put me in county jail. I think [next year] we’re going to get a little more dangerous.”

— Kelly Strodl