RANKIN INLET - Rankin Inlet's firefighters were hard at work at the community hall on the evening of July 8, practising for the National Aboriginal Firefighting Competition in Listuguj, Que.

The group was getting ready for tryouts that will be held in the community Aug. 13 to 16 to determine which firefighters will represent Nunavut at the national competition later this year.

Approximately 16 firefighters from across Nunavut will travel to Rankin Inlet for the competition, Fire Chief Ambrose Karlik said. The winners will form a team that will participate in the national competition.

"Hopefully team Nunavut will be first place," Karlik said.

He said the participants from Rankin are excellent firefighters who stand a good chance of winning.

"They do hard work every time we get fire calls," he said.

All of Rankin's approximately 16 firefighters are volunteers except Karlik, who volunteered with the department for 17 years before becoming chief earlier this year.

The firefighters spent the evening practising for the events they will have to be ready for during the Quebec competition. First, they were timed running across the length of the community hall to their gear on the other side and putting it on in the fastest time.

Another practice session included being timed unraveling fire hose and hooking it up to a gate valve on the other side of the hall, then running back and hooking the other end up to a nozzle. They did each event in full gear.

"Essentially, it's a space suit," said paramedic Ralph Shearman, who is not a firefighter but was helping out during practice. "They have to be able to withstand temperature, gas, poison. They also have to be able to withstand a lot of wear and tear."

Participant Johnny Aupilarjuk was part of team Nunavut at the competition last year and said Nunavut's team always does well.

"We've won most sportsmanlike three years in a row," he said.

Rankin's firefighters will compete against each other on July 31 to determine who will compete against other participants from the rest of Nunavut in August.