The annual Firefighter Games in Robson, B.C. saw 12 members from the Sunshine Coast compete and ultimately raise over half of the $10,500 that came in from the games for Muscular Dystrophy (MD) Canada.
The Coast sent three teams of four to the games from the Halfmoon Bay, Sechelt and Gibsons departments, raising $5,950.
At the last minute, two teammates from Halfmoon Bay had to pull out for health reasons so one new member from the department, Reanna Popp, stepped up and Sechelt sent member Jonathan Parlee to make the team complete.
During the games, which took place on Sept. 3 and 4, firefighters were scored on strength, endurance, skill and teamwork while competing in a series of events that included axe throwing, a pike pole javelin toss, a hoisting challenge, a rescue challenge, a sledge hammer slamming competition, a hose rolling relay, a chin-up square-off and a firefighting obstacle course.
Of the Sunshine Coast teams, Gibsons came out on top, sitting in first place at the end of day one and ultimately placing fifth out of 23 teams at the end of the second day.
“I was really impressed,” said Gibsons fire Chief Rob Michael, noting the Gibsons team trained regularly for the event. “They did outstanding.”
The Gibsons team consisted of Scott Taylor, Lee Hollett, John DiStefano and Chris Facchin.
Halfmoon Bay was the next best team from the Coast, taking home 10th place.
The team of Popp, Parlee, Dan Olsen and Kody Raymond finished the first day in fourth place and ended up with the 10th place finish at the end of day two.
Olsen said it was a great event and noted that meeting other teams from around the province was “a really good experience.”
The Sechelt team of Darren Caldwell, Angus Marshall, Mike Wainwright and Gera Gilroy ended up tying for a 19th place finish after a couple of disqualifications that hurt their overall standings.
In one rescue event, the dummy’s head touched the window frame, resulting in a disqualification and no points, and in the sledge hammer slam, the member used too much force and hit the block off the track, resulting in another disqualification.
“The team competed very strongly but with a couple of disqualifications we fell way back,” assistant fire chief Dwight Davison said.
He was at the games to get the inside scoop because the Sechelt department plans to host its own firefighter games next Canada Day and he wanted to make connections and learn exactly how things are done.
He said the local event would also benefit MD Canada, as that’s the fire department’s main beneficiary charity.
