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www.oakvillebeaver.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, July 16, 2010 · 16 Oakville firefighters continue winning ways By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Oakville's firefighters continued their winning streak earlier this month, taking top honours at the Ontario Regional Scott Firefit Championships in Brantford. The Oakville Levitt-Safety Team #1 placed first in overall team time and also placed first in the team relay portion of the competition, which took place in Lion's Park and required firefighters to rapidly complete an intense obstacle course in full firefighter gear, including a breathing apparatus. Andrew Garriock, of the Oakville Levitt-Safety Team #2, received the title of fastest rookie during the competition with Oakville Levitt-Safety Team #1's Shaun Henderson and Darren Vanzandbergen coming in second in the two person relay. "It was great. This was Oakville's best showing ever," said Henderson. "To go in and take top spot in the team and relay just thrilled everybody. We had a lot of good competitors and we knocked out a couple of teams that I didn't expect us to get ahead of. This has really set the bar for the rest of the year." SUPPLIED PHOTO SAFETY FIRST: Members of the Oakville Levitt-Safety Team at the Ontario Regional Scott Firefit Championships. The obstacle course, which the carrying a 50-pound packed up hose, Oakville teams excelled at, is not for the participant must first race up a the faint of heart and is geared five-storey tower. towards making firefighters better Once at the top of the tower the able to do their jobs. participant drops the hose being car"It makes work so much easier," ried and then hoists up a second said Henderson, in a previous inter- hose from the ground below. view. When this is complete the partic"It makes going to an apartment ipant must race down the tower and fire, scaling up to the 18th floor, just complete the force machine process not as much work as it was before. of the obstacle course. This involves hitting a 160-pound The skills you need are applied there, the strength, the conditioning and block with an eight-pound sledgehammer until the block has been working off an (oxygen) pack." Clad in full firefighter gear and 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 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 about 100 feet backward. Henderson was able to complete this obstacle course in one minute and twenty-three seconds, giving him the third overall best time during the competition. Garriock completed the obstacle course in one minute and forty-one seconds to be dubbed fastest rookie. "Our new guys did really really well. They placed sixth as a team (Oakville Levitt-Safety Team #2) and I think sixth in the relay, but we had some really strong first runs," said Henderson. "We had a guy (Garriock) who had never run before and he ran a 1:41, which to my knowledge is one of the fastest times ever for a first run. The work these guys have been putting in this spring has really paid off." In total the Oakville Fire Department sent 13 firefighters to the competition, which included not only other teams from Ontario, but also Quebec and the United States. Henderson said the Department of National Defence even fielded a team this year. For several years, Henderson was the only Oakville firefighter participating in these competitions, but he was able to pique some of his colleagues' interest in 2009, possibly when he came in first in the tandem category of that year's World Firefighter Combat Challenge in Las Vegas. Following that victory, a newlyformed Oakville team came in second as a team and second in the relay category at a Firefighter Combat Challenge event held in Marlborough, Massachusetts in May. The Oakville Levitt-Safety Team will be participating in another competition today in Montreal. This will be followed by another competition in Windsor in August and the national competition in Brampton in September. Ê Ê * August 14/10 Now Open WESTWOOD MALL ETUDE DR ST ANDREWS TRAFALGAR Coming Soon BRANT ST UPPER MIDDLE RD CAROLINE ST WALKERS LN BRANT ST N SERVICE RD DORVAL DR ROYAL FORD DR WINDSOR DR RD DUNDAS ST POSTRIDGE DR Coming Soon LAKESHORE RD E THOMAS ST QUEEN ST S Coming Soon QUEEN ST W BRONTE ST -- Brampton -- 9045 Airport Road Ê Ê (905) 791-1751 AIRPORT RD BELLWOODS SHAW ST GOREWAY DR NAVY ST LIVINGSTON AVE AVE AVE QUEEN ST E UPPER BRANT PLAZA DORVAL CROSSING WEST DERRY RD W OLD PINE ST -- Burlington -- 2201 Brant Street -- Burlington -- 3450 Dundas Street -- Burlington -- 495 Brant Street -- Oakville -- 280 N. Service Rd. W. -- Oakville -- 601 Ford Drive -- Oakville -- 2365 Trafalgar Road -- Oakville -- 150 Lakseshore Rd. E. -- Malton -- 7205 Goreway Dr. -- Grimsby -- 44 Livingston Ave. -- Milton -- 6901 Derry Road W. -- Streetsville -- 241 Queen St. S. -- Toronto -- 869 Queen St. West (905) 335-3191 (905) 319-5005 (905) 639-7526 (905) 842-7141 (905) 845-2996 (905) 257-6885 (905) 338-3443 (905) 677-7482 (905) 945-3444 (905) 876-8882 (905) 858-6161 (416) 203-0862