Dorchester's volunteer Fire Department recently gave back to their community.
Fresh off a Top 2 finish at the Canadian National Firefit Championships in women's relay and a national championship in the individual category, members staged a Firefit muster for local sponsors, families and supporters at the Dorchester School last month.
Firefighter Nancy Milner explained that the muster was a series of fireground evolutions that the Firefit sponsors were invited to try and complete.
"These are similar tasks to what we experience on the fireground and at the Firefit Championships," says Milner.
Here, a competitor shoulders a hose pack, sprints to the second floor and must hoist a hose pack up and over the railing. From there, it is a sprint down the stairs to the Kaiser Force Machine (courtesy of Reg Tower) and a run through the obstacle cone course.
Onto hands and knees, the competitor moves forward up and over another obstacle only to be met with a hose advance evolution. After dragging the hose forward and shooting for accuracy, the competitor can relax and catch a breath.
Firefighter Dennis Reid was on hand to ensure safety throughout all the evolutions.
Three keen sponsors put in teams for the event. In the end, the breathless group of competitors compared stories on how challenging the course was. Judges awarded third-place medals to Team Bank of Nova Scotia, second place to Team Co-Op and crowned Team Colp Construction the overall winners. Hats off to official timekeeper Logan Reid, who kept all participants on track throughout the afternoon.
Not to be outdone, competitors in the individual category took home hardware in the event. Third went place to Jacques Poirier, second place to Sue Carrier and first place to Brenda LaCourse.
For all attending, a barbecue and the ability to compare experiences awaited. Chief Greg Partridge was on hand to congratulate all the winners in this first-ever Firefit muster in Dorchester. Both the fire department and the Firefit team look forward to making this an annual event.
The businesses and private sponsors who supported the local team made it possible for them to represent Dorchester in the 2011 Scott FireFit Championship in Medicine Hat, Alberta.
A video of some of the championship highlights from the team is available. For information on how to obtain a copy, contact Nancy Milner at 379-1008 or visit the Friends of the Fire Department page on Facebook.
