Fleming FireFit Team Heads to the World Championships

After achieving success at the National Championships, members of the Fleming College FireFit team are heading to the World Championships in Utah from Oct. 10 to 15 announced on Tuesday.

Photo courtesy of Fleming College.

Fleming FireFit took home National bronze medals in the mixed relay team and hybrid men’s division. Each medal was won while students competed against full-time firefighters and experienced FireFit teams.  

The FireFit Championships are described as the ultimate test of firefighting skills and endurance where students and experienced firefighters compete on a course comprised of six firefighting-based physical challenges. Competitors must complete each task wearing 50 pounds of firefighting gear.

Pre-service firefighter students Cameron Leonard and Greg Sheedy both qualified for the world championships. Leonard is being joined by FireFit head coach Shawna Coulter, representing the team in Sandy, Utah during championships.

During the national competition, Coulter also led the Whitby Professional Firefighters Association L 2036 to success, securing a gold medal for the top female team in Canada and a gold for the women’s relay team. Coulter also took home a bronze in the individual race division.  

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Fleming College FireFit Team Heading To Calgary To Compete In National FireFit Championships

Fleming College’s Pre-Service Firefighter students are heading west this week to compete in the National FireFit Championships.

Amber Milley finished her first Individual race at Oshawa Regional. Photo by Shawna Coulter.

Taking place in Calgary from Wednesday-Sunday, the FireFit Championships have been described as the ultimate test of firefighting skills and endurance, pitting the top firefighters and firefighting students against each other.

Teams will push through their physical and mental limits as they demonstrate their skills against the clock on a course comprised of six grueling physical challenges, all while wearing 50 lbs. of firefighting gear. The competition is based on firefighting tasks commonly performed in emergency situations, including carrying weights up a five-storey tower and dragging a 175 lb. mannequin.

There are categories for men and women, and both compete on the same course in individual and team relay competitions.

This is the eighth year a team from Fleming has competed in FireFit Championships. The team secured its invitation to the Championship due to its success throughout the 2022 season at multiple competitions.

The Fleming FireFit Team is made up of nine students and coaches. Coaches are not only participating in the FireFit competition but are also full-time firefighters themselves.

Ethan Healy crushed his PB with a 2:07 at Oshawa Regional. Photo by Shawna Coulter.

Fleming’s FireFit Team will face the following challenges during the National FireFit Championships:

• The Stair Climb: With a four-foot bundle of a four-inch, 42 lb. hose carried on the outside shoulder, competitors climb six flights of stairs and deposit the hose completely in a box.

• Hose Hoist: A 45 lb. hose must be hauled up to the top of a tower and completely deposited in a box.

• Forcible Entry: Designed as a chopping simulator, competitors must move a beam a certain distance using a nine lb. shot mallet and then place the mallet on a 4’ x 4’ surface area.

• Run: Competitors walk or run as fast as they can around hydrants-a distance of 140 ft.-then shoulder a fully charged fire hose.

• Hose Advance: Competitors drag a fully charged hose 75 feet. Once the nozzle crosses the 75-foot mark the competitor must open the nozzle, hit a target with the stream of water and then close the nozzle and place it on the ground.

• Victim Rescue: A 175 lb. mannequin must be dragged backwards for 100 ft. Time stops when the competitor and the mannequin cross the beam at the finish line.

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Fleming College Pre-Service Firefighting Instructor Brings Home Medals in World Firefighter Combat Challenge Championships

Shawna Coulter, a local Port Hope resident, instructor at Fleming College and a member of the Whitby Professional Firefighters Association Local 2036, has returned from the World Firefighter Combat Challenge Championships with three medals (a Bronze and two Silvers).

Photo by Danielle Graham.

The Firefighter Combat Challenge is a sport designed to put firefighting fitness skills to the ultimate test, taxing physical and mental strength against the clock wearing 50lbs of firefighting gear.

The World Championships were hosted November 2-6 in Fort Pierce, Florida.

Coulter qualified for the World Championships by medaling in three divisions in a regional qualifier in Pittsfield, Massachusetts in September.

Men and women compete on the same course, complete the same tasks, all wearing the same firefighter gear replicating the real world demands of firefighting for all genders.

“The tasks we work through on the course don’t change. It doesn’t matter your age, gender or size - it’s all the same,” said Coulter. ”That represents the demand of firefighting - whether you are male or female you are still required to complete the same tasks on the job.”

The competition is comprised of six elements including carrying weighted hose packs up a 5 storey tower, an 175lb mannequin rescue, forcible entry and more.

“It allows you to prepare, and allows you that strong belief that no matter what you encounter on the job you can handle that.”

Photo courtesy of FirefighterCombatChallenge.

Coulter notes that because of her small stature, during the challenge she was carrying almost double her weight.

“I top in at around 135 lbs, so for me to complete the course I have to make sure I have to make sure that I keep my fitness training to a certain intensity,” she said. “One of the most grueling parts of the course happens at the very end, it includes dragging a 175-pound dummy 100 feet backwards. So for me once you include the 50-pound gear plus the 175-pound dummy I’m basically picking up and dragging twice my weight. “

Coulter says completing the last part of the course is a clear indicator to herself that if she ever needed to she could drag a crew member or a resident, no matter their size, out of a fire while on the job.

Prior to competing this year, training looked different than it did in other years.

“The last few years have been a challenge in terms of being able to train for that level of competition,” said Coulter. “Particularly not having consistent competitions to be able to attend, it’s definitely a challenge after two years to pursue that.”

Coulter and her team were able to train at Wild Water and Wheels, which she says played a huge role in their success.

“I was very fortunate to have an amazing group of fire fighters to train with. That has made a world of difference - whether or not those firefighters were competing this year they still came out and trained with me and helped me prepare - it’s very much a team effort.”

Photo by Rick Stephens.

Coulter has been competing in the sport since 2016 and is a member of the only all-female team competing under a branch the International Association of Firefighters in North America.

“The first time I ever competed I didn’t complete the course, but that’s a good thing because it teaches you not just about positive goal setting but to look at something that’s very difficult that might be intimidating and teaches you to break it into sizable tasks.”

In 2022 the women’s team aims to have three women stepping onto the Canadian course and who are also aiming for the 2022 World Firefighter Combat Challenge in Salt Lake City, Utah in October.

She notes that the sport encourages her to set and reach new goals in both competing and in her work.

“The great thing about the sport is realistically even though you’re ranked against a list of others, you’re really competing against yourself,” she said. “It doesn’t matter if you finish first or last, or even if you don’t finish the course. It’s about improving yourself, because that’s going to apply to your career and your life in general.”

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