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www.oakvillebeaver.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, March 25, 2010 · 4 Oakville firefighter takes on the heat in Dubai By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF A group of firefighters from the United Arab Emirates may be able to fight fires just a little harder now thanks to an Oakville colleague. Shaun Henderson, a seven-year veteran of the Oakville Fire Department, has returned from Dubai where he and 14 other Canadian firefighters were tasked with training Emirati firefighters in the intense obstacle course known as the Firefighter Combat Challenge. "I think they were expecting it to be a little bit easier," said Henderson. "Nearly half of their competitors didn't complete the course when they ran it as individuals, but you can't expect to do that course and only have that limited amount of preparation. The guys participating in it here have been doing it for years and years and years. It's not something you can just walk into and expect to complete the first time." The obstacle course, which pushed so many Emirati firefighters to the limits of their endurance, is an extremely intense one, geared toward making firefighters better able to do their jobs. "It makes work so much easier," said Henderson, in a previous interview. "It makes going to an apartment fire, scaling up to the 18th floor, just not as much work as it was before. The skills you need are applied there, the strength, the conditioning and working off an (oxygen) pack." Clad in full firefighter gear, including a breathing apparatus, and carrying a 50-pound, packed-up hose, the participant must first race up a five-storey tower. Once at the top of the tower the participant drops the hose being carried and then hoists up a second hose from ground level. When this is finished, the participant must race down the tower and complete the force machine process of the obstacle course. This involves hitting a 160-pound block with an eight-pound sledgehammer until the block has been driven a certain distance. "It simulates breaking through a door or breaking through a roof with an axe," said Henderson. "You're doing this all on (oxygen), so at this SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER A CHAMP: Oakville firefighter Shaun Henderson. point you are just completely fatigued." With the force machine complete, the participant then runs to a water-filled hose, which is dragged for eight feet before being used to extinguish a target. The participant then grabs a 185pound rescue mannequin, which needs to be dragged 100 feet backward. Henderson has shown himself to be a master of this obstacle course coming in first in the tandem relay competition of the 2009 World Firefighter Combat Challenge in Las Vegas. This was probably one of the reasons why he was among the 15 Canadian firefighters that Firefit -- the organization that has developed and administered firefighter training in Canada since 1994 -- chose to bring the competition to Dubai. Henderson said once in Dubai, his first job was to help train the Emirati firefighters on the obstacle course. This training concluded with a competition at Dubai's World Trade Centre where the Emirati firefighters took on their Canadian instructors. Henderson said the Canadians swept the competition, but also pointed out some of Emirati firefighters made considerable progress. The competition attracted considerable attention with the fire chiefs of Pakistan and Lebanon watching. Henderson said this was important as this could lead to the Firefighter Combat Challenge being brought to those countries. Even Dubai's royal family took notice of the competition with the crown prince attending. "It was funny how we changed everything for him. 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