SARNIA -- For the second year in a row, the Lambton College Firefit team is bringing their namesake challenge back to Sarnia soil.
In early September, the College will welcome more than 150 of North America’s fastest firefighters as they host the Western Ontario Regional FireFit Championships at the College’s main campus on London Rd.
The three day event, which takes place September 6 through 8, will kick off with a Corporate Relay Challenge on the Friday evening. Teams of three to five individuals will compete in a scaled-down version of the Scott FireFit Challenge, simulating tasks such as stair climbs, hose hoists from the top of the tower, forcible entries, and victim rescues. The cost is $300 per team, and proceeds will go towards the event.
In addition to hosting world champion competitors such as Lambton College Alumni and Sarnia firefighter Ian Van Reenen, the free weekend event will feature lots of hands-on activities for the whole family including food trucks, fire-related vendors, and a mini replica course for children. Sarnia’s Refined Fool has also crafted a unique drink especially for the event, which will be available all weekend at the beer tent.
The weekend festivities present an opportunity for Lambton’s FireFit team to compete in front of their home town fans following a successful start to the season. With only two regional challenges under their belts, the 13 member team has already claimed 14 medals. At the Eastern Ontario Regional Challenge on Canada Day weekend, the women claimed two Gold medals – fastest team time and fastest relay. For their part, the men snagged a Silver in relay and a Bronze in team time. Individually, rookie sensation Pat Millington took Gold for fastest rookie and Alex Nichols came home with a Bronze. Millington and Assistant Coach Shane Bettridge both finished top 10 in the competition.
A few weeks later at the Northern Ontario Regional Challenge in Port Elgin the team saw similar results with the Women receiving Gold in Women’s Relay and Team time. Competitors Taylor Murray and Julianne Brock also brought home a Bronze in the X3 Tandem.
The Men’s Relay and Team time saw Lambton break through with two Bronze medals. Once again, Millington took Gold for fastest rookie and finished in the top 10 against over 130 firefighters.
In a further effort to gain more experience on the course, Millington also competed in back-to-back individual races in Nova Scotia where he burned up the course with a Personal Best run of 1:25 and claimed his third Gold of the season for fastest rookie time, ranking him third overall. A week later in Cobequid, Nova Scotia, he took his fourth Gold for fastest rookie time and finished sixth overall.
With four individual Gold medals and four top 10 finishes, Millington is the guy to watch when he competes at home during the Western Ontario Regional FireFit Championships.
For more information on the event, to get involved, or to register for the Corporate Relay Challenge, please contact shane.bettridge@lambtoncollege.ca.