A team of Delta firefighters kicked off another year of competition last weekend with a strong showing at the Scott FireFit provincial championship.
Team Westshore Terminals, which is made up of six local firefighters who compete in a variety of events every year, finished in second place at the provincial championship in Aldergrove.
The firefighters will now set their sights on the FireFit national championship in Edmonton in September. As well, the team will compete at a regional event in Everett, Washington at the end of August in a bid for a spot at the world championships in Las Vegas in October.
The competitions, both team and individual, are based on tasks firefighters would typically have to carry out in emergency situations.
Team manager Ryan Rickards doesn't think the group will have any problem making it to the world championships again this year. Team Westshore Terminals was one minute away from winning the team competition last year and firefighter Jamie McGarva won both the provincial and national FireFit individual competitions last year as well as taking top spot, and breaking the world record, at the Firefighter Combat Challenge in the U.S.
McGarva, who has been on the team for eight years, captured second place in the individual competition over the weekend, coming in just behind a Kamloops firefighter. Delta also finished just seconds after the Kamloops team.
Rickards said training is like a second full-time job for the firefighters, many of who have families and children. He said on many occasions, members are in the gym early in the morning or late at night preparing for the competitions.
"It puts our department on the map," he said of the success enjoyed by the team, which also includes firefighters Mark Millward, Steve Wood, Rob Lemon and Reid Taylor.
The team, which has been sponsored by Westshore Terminals for 18 years, holds children's events throughout the spring and summer in order to raise money to help offset travel costs. This year, it will be set up at the Boundary Bay Airshow, Tsawwassen Sun Festival and Tour de Delta, among other events.
