Fort MacMurray firefighters showed that they have what it takes by bringing home 3 medals from the national competition, and 2 of the medals were gold. The Scott FireFit National Championships is a competition which tests the skills and team cooperation of firefighters from across the nation so the showing by the Fort MacMurray firefighters was impressive. Frasier O’Neill, the team leader, called the results gratifying and stated “(We’re) pretty stoked. It’s been a lot of hours, hundreds of hours this summer of our own time to go into it, so when it all comes together, to get that ultimate result it’s pretty satisfying for sure. I think everyone did an outstanding job. You’re not going to win it by a single person, you have to have a team coordinate all together.”
Participants in the FireFit Challenge must compete in full fire gear, navigating through a course which includes numerous skill tests and challenges that firefighters can face on the job. The Fort MacMurray firefighters won gold in the mixed NxG2 and in the men’s relay. They placed third in the women’s relay, and 4t place overall for the entire competition. Challenges that were faced included wearing a heavy pack and climbing up stairs, carrying a dummy victim across the finish line, dragging and utilizing a fire hose, and using a rope to hoist up equipment. According to team leader O’Neill “It’s pretty unique to have an occupational sport that makes you better for the occupation. You’re just training what the events are. We try to simulate it the best we can. You just try to mix the training up to make yourself the best you can.”