The Ottawa firefighters came out on top at the regional Firefit competition held in Montreal this weekend, with teams from Longueuil and Montreal taking second and third place.
All podium finishers qualify to participate in the national portion of the competition, which will take place in September in Alberta.
In the individual races, Eric Einagel and Marisa Tremblay of Ottawa took first place in both the men’s and women’s races.
Firefit is an athletic championship where Canadian firefighters compete to perform athletic feats involved in real-life emergency situations.
Obstacles include climbing a five-story tower with a 45-foot pipe, simulating a door, shooting down a target with a water jet, and moving a 175-pound dummy 100 feet .
All this “with all your firefighting gear, another 175 pounds on your back,” said Chris Ross, president of the Montreal Firefighters Association.
“These are events that really represent what you do when you walk into a fire,” he said.
Firefighters take part in the Firefit Championships in Montreal, Sunday, July 3, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
A FAMILY EVENT
For the first time, the Montreal firefighters organized a festive event for the public to accompany the competition.
Ross says the weekend was a hit with families and drew a few thousand people.
“We put out a total of 250 burgers and nearly 2,500 hot dogs over the two days,” he said.
There were also face painting booths, inflatable games, fire awareness workshops and a children’s version of the sports challenge on site.
In addition, historic trucks and equipment were on display.
In previous years, the Firefit event was mainly attended by the firefighters themselves.
But this year, the stands were “filled” with locals, Ross said.
“[There was] lots of cheers from locals. The competitors, they certainly appreciated. When you have people clapping and screaming, it allows you to find that little moment of extra effort to finish it faster.”
This report was first published in French by La Presse canadienne on July 3, 2022.
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