NATCHEZ &045; A rivalry was brewing Saturday as pots of chili were cooking at the site of the Broadway Bash Chili Cookoff.

The annual event, which benefits the Natchez Children’s Home, drew teams and tasters to grounds of Rosalie.

And at booths right next to each other, members of the Natchez Fire Department and the Adams County Sheriff’s Department were working on their trash talk.

&uot;We’re trying to give the fire department a little competition,&uot; said Carl Champlin, who works at the Adams County Jail. &uot;We keep telling them theirs tastes like tomato sauce.&uot;

Of course, the firefighters weren’t listening to that.

&uot;Theirs tastes like tomato sauce,&uot; said firefighter Joe Garrity, whose team was defending its first-place trophy from 2003.

&uot;We won last year,&uot; firefighter Stan Owens said. &uot;We’ll be the first team to repeat this year.&uot;

In the end, judges gave first place to Respiratory Care for its &uot;blood-sucking chili,&uot; although the fire department was No. 1 in the hearts of the public, who voted it the People’s Choice winner.

But chefs and tasters agreed that the real winner was the Natchez Children’s Home.

&uot;I love it,&uot; said Champlin, who was attending his first chili cookoff. &uot;It’s all going to a worthy cause. I’m all for doing anything for the children.&uot;

&uot;This is what everybody’s out here for,&uot; Owens said. &uot;You can’t beat it, doing something for the children. It’s the best thing in the world.&uot;

While some teams were brand new this year, others return every year.

Kelly Holmes has been a team member since he worked at International Paper, although Delta Rentals has sponsored his team for the past three years.

&uot;We do it every year,&uot; he said, noting the members of his union local at IP always took up a collection for the children’s home.