Firefighters engage in combat challenge on Wellington's waterfront to replicate real-life rescues

May 1, 2021

Designed to simulate a knife-edge rescue, the firefighters are not only there to prove how tough they are but also entertain.

Over 100 firefighters descended upon Wellington's waterfront today, not to put out flames but battle each other in a combat challenge.

Designed to simulate a knife-edge rescue, the firefighters were not only there to prove how tough they are but also to entertain.

Scaling six storeys while carrying a 19kg kilogram hose, smashing a beam with a four kg hammer, and dragging an 85 kg dummy over 30 metres were all activities completed while wearing their full firefighting kit.

"Definitely up the top of the tower it’s really hard - definitely for females going over the bar. I’m really short but yeah, pushing hard is what we do on the track and it felt good,” firefighter Isabel Whitaker said.

Replicating what firefighters face daily - testing their physical and mental fitness.

“These are the elite firefighters in the country, they train to do this - we've got internationally acclaimed people here, some that have won age categories over the world,” Jason Prendegast of the United Fire Brigades Association said.

"There were over 120 firefighters there today from across the country, most of them volunteers but it was not just about the competition, it was also helping the public to understand what it takes to become a firefighter.

“It might spark interest for them to recruit either as a volunteer in the small communities or become a career firefighter."

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