Mike Bryant
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, June 5 2008

Ever tried climbing six flights of stairs carrying a 45-pound fire hose while wearing 30 pounds of gear and then hoist another 45-pound hose up to the top, and do it all in 45 seconds? If you were a firefighter competing in the Alberta regional Firefit competition last weekend in Edmonton, it was all par for the course.

Yellowknife firefighter Ian MacDonald drags a 175 pound dummy during the victim rescue competition – the "toughest two minutes in sports" – during the Alberta regional Firefit competition in Edmonton last weekend.

Eight firefighters from the Yellowknife Fire Department – five full-time, three paid-on-call – took part in the event, scoring an eighth-place team finish and a trip to the Canadian and International championships in Quinte West, Ont., this September.

Firefighter Jared Wiebe, 27, finished among the top three in his group and placed 35th overall – tops among the Yellowknife team -- out of 97 firefighters in competition. The top three individual scores are what determines the overall team score.

"These guys are like gladiators, I'm serious," said Wiebe at the fire hall Wednesday.

"There's some rivalry between us to get the top score. It just forces the guy to try that much harder."

Yellowknife's team, which also included Branden Wasiuta, Mike Cooke, Max Auger, Dieter Andre, Mark Rutten, Tony Ondrack and Ian MacDonald, prepared for weeks to get ready for the competition, lifting weights, climbing stairs, among other gruelling exercises.

There were six events at the Alberta competition, May 30-31: The above mentioned stair climb and hose hoist, forcible entry (smacking a steel beam as hard as you can with a sledgehammer), the obstacle course run, hose advance (running with a fully-charged fire hose as fast as you can) and the victim rescue, where competitors drag a 175-pound dummy for 100 feet – an event which Wiebe said firefighters describe as the "toughest two minutes in sports."

Most of the events are speed races. What makes them even harder is that there are no breaks in between, said Wiebe. It's a full-out sprint from one event to the next. Not only that, but competitors must don heavy firefighting gear, including oxygen bottles on their backs and breathing apparatuses on their faces.

It's no wonder Firefit organizers set up a special tent with an oxygen tank where tapped out competitors can sit and recuperate.

Wiebe, who competed in Firefit for the first time, said he didn't need the oxygen but admitted his "legs were a little wobbly afterwards."

Wiebe said his group is looking forward to the national championships this fall, which will bring teams from other countries, including New Zealand and the U.S. It's the big show as far as firefighting competitions go. TSN will be there covering the event.

Right now, the crew is searching out sponsors to cover their trip to Ontario. First Air paid for their flight down to Edmonton.

Yellowknife fire chief Albert Headrick said he was proud of how well his firefighters performed at the Alberta regionals.

"I'm ecstatic with the results," said Headrick.

"We did extremely well for the number of resources we were able to send."