Adam Scott from the Bruce Power-Pokemon Go team was quick on his feet maneuvering around many obstacles during the relay race, at the local FireFit competition July 15 in Port Elgin.
Hub Staff
The “toughest two minutes in sports” drew crowds to Port Elgin’s Harbour to witness the Scott FireFit Western Ontario Regional July 15 through 17.
The FireFit competition is based on firefighting tasks commonly performed in emergency situations. They are performed in relay and individual formats that drew over 100 firefighters to the area over the weekend.
On Friday, July 15, eight area teams took part in the competition that saw Bruce Power the take top spot in the local competition and later third place during regional competition. The Bruce Power team had finished eighth earlier this month at the Northern Ontario regionals in Wasaga Beach.
The Bruce Power team, who had renamed themselves “Pokemon Go” for the Port Elgin competition, included a Bruce Power EPS training team, a Bruce Power SERM team, Bruce Power E Crew and Bruce Power A-Team who took second place.
An all female team called the Bruce County Mashup was put together 24 hours before the competition and showed grit while trying to “catch” the Pokemon team. It was a battle for third place between Southampton Firefighters and the North River/Hanover Hitmen who were comprised of firefighters from Hanover and North River, Nova Scotia, who had travelled to Port Elgin to be a part of the competition.
The course features a six-story stair climb with a high-rise pack and a 4 foot bundle of 4 inch hose weighing 42 pounds. From the top of the tower, using a hand over hand motion, the competitor must pull a 5/8 inch rope to hoist a donut roll LDH hose weighing 42 pounds.
The competitor must then descend the tower to start the Forcible Entry task. The Force Machine has the competitor using a Cook 9-pound shot mallet to move a beam. This Task is complete when the end of the beam crosses the line.
From there, the competitor runs 140 feet around hydrants, then they’re handed a 1.75 inch, fully charged hoseline. The hose advance competitor carries the hoseline and drags it 75 feet. Once the nozzle crosses the 75-foot mark, the competitor hits a designated target with the stream of water. The last task features “Randy”, the 165-pound rescue victim that the final competitor must drag backwards a distance of 100 feet.
Final times for the top three teams were:
Bruce Power - Pokemon Go!: 01:16:00;
Bruce Power - A-Team: 01:27:61;
North River/Hanover Hitman 01:35:51
Individual races also took place July 15 with all top three competitors coming from the Bruce Power A-Team.
Individual top three competitors were:
Joel Murray: 02:24:00;
Ryan Lawrence: 02:30:04;
Mark McDonald: 02:34:32
Full results will be available soon on the results page at firefit.com.
Winners from the Bruce Power - Pokemon Go team were Adam Scott (left), Josh Ironmonger, Justin Clarke, Donnie Mertes and Justin Schmidt.
Saugeen Shores firefighter Josh Fritzley (left) had the upper hand as he quickly pulled a 5/8 inch rope to hoist a donut roll of LDH hose, that weighed 42 pounds, during the local competition July 15.
Saugeen Shores firefighters Mark LeBlanc (left) Craig Johnston, Adam Shular and Josh Fritzley competed many times in the knock-out competition with their best overall time being 01:32:85.
Saugeen Shores volunteer firefighter Ashley Stegner competed on the women's team, Bruce County Mashup. Stegner successfully dragged Randy, the 165-pound rescue victim backwards a distance of 100 feet, during the competition July 15.
Competitors were put to the test during the Scott Firefit competition in Port Elgin, July 15.
