Lambton College hosting national, world FireFit competition

The world of FireFit – a firefighting skills competition billed as the “toughest two minutes in sports” – is coming to Lambton College for five days this month.

The Sarnia college, which has hosted three regional competitions since 2018, will be the site of the 2023 Canadian FireFit National and World Championships, Sept. 13 to 17.

Lambton, which trains firefighters at its Lasalle Line fire school, has sent student teams to FireFit competitions across Canada for several years.

“That’s the top end of it all,” Lambton team coach Sue Patrick said of the upcoming competition at the college’s main campus on London Road. “It’s really amazing, and the college has supported our initiative from like Day 1.”

It’s Lambton’s first time hosting the national and world event, Patrick said.

The FireFit organization will set up a tower and course designed to mirror conditions firefighters face on the job.

Wearing full fire gear and breathing through air packs, competitors are timed as they carry a bundle of fire hose up six flights to the top of the tower, then haul up a line tied to a roll of hose.

They then run back down, pound a weighted beam down a track with a mallet, shift a fully charged hose and hit a target with a stream of water, then drag a 75-kilogram (165-pound) mannequin roughly 30 meters to the finish line.

Admission is free and the public is welcome. There will be food trucks, a mini replica FireFit course for kids, a visit by Paw Patrol’s fire dog Marshall on the Saturday and Sunday, noon to 2 pm, and fire service vendors, plus a beer garden with local breweries Refined Fool and Imperial City .

A Corporate Relay Challenge will see teams of three to five paying $750 each to compete on the course to raise money for the Lambton College Foundation.

Lambton is expecting about 250 competitors for the main competition, including professional and volunteer firefighters and students.

Competition will run 11 am to 4 pm beginning Wednesday, Sept. 13, the first of three days of qualifying, Patrick said. Finals will run on the event’s last two days.

Shane Bettridge, another Lambton FireFit coach, said competitors are expected from across Canada and the US and as far afield as Poland and Germany.

Many college alumni are expected to return with fire service teams from across Ontario, Patrick said.

Lambton’s squad – its biggest yet, with 21 student athletes, including eight women – has “had success this season” and “hope(s) to be peaking” at the national and worlds event, Bettridge said.

The team trained through the summer and has competed in three regional events so far this season, winning 21 medals, includes seven at an event last weekend in Port Elgin, he said.

“As fire students, I think a lot of them are seeing the benefits not only for their fitness, but for their contacts with people in the fire service that can help them down the road,” Patrick said. “All varsity sports have value, but this one has value for your future – getting a job and your career.”

The college plans improvements to outdoor student areas at its Sarnia campus, including a permanent FireFit course, with tower, the Lambton team can use for training.

“We’re hoping within two years we’ll have that up and running,” Patrick said.

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