Competitors face the heat in Toughest Firefighter Alive obstacle course
BUTLER TWP — The attire alone left no question as to how rugged the competitors were. Their performance on the obstacle course was further confirmation.
As part of the 2024 Can-Am Police-Fire Games, seven firefighters took part in Tuesday morning’s, July 16, Toughest Firefighter Alive competition at Butler County Community College.
The obstacle course started with each competitor carrying a 14-foot ladder and placing it against a building, lugging a high-rise hose pack up 74 steps and pulling 50 feet of 2 1/2-inch hose up four stories. After heading back down the stairs, they had to hammer a weight 4 feet on a Keiser sled, drag a 70-pound hose 75 feet and hit a target, and carry a 110-pound dummy 100 feet.
“You’ve got to put in the work before,” said Ken Wagner, of the Butler Township and Connoquenessing fire departments. “(With) fires, you can’t just show up and say, ‘I’m going to go all on adrenaline.’ That’s only going to help you for a few minutes.”
The contestants had to wear full turnout gear — boots, bunker pants, coat, helmet and a self-contained breathing apparatus.
“You start sweating right away,” Wagner said. “Even before you start, with that sun baking today, you’re already sweating. It definitely holds in a lot of heat. … You’ve got to be careful (with) overheating.”
“It doesn’t breathe at all,” said Scott Garing, of the Cranberry Township Fire Department. “You’re sweaty, you’re hot. It just compounds everything from being tired to your body running through its energy really fast.”
Wagner earned a silver medal in the men’s master category (ages 40-49) with a time of 3 minutes, 9.24 seconds, the second-fastest on the day. He said keeping fit is a necessity compounded by a current lack of younger firefighters.
“I think it puts some more pressure on the older guys that have the experience to also be able to go in there and do the job,” Wagner said. “You stay in shape because the fires, they don’t care. They don’t care if you’re young or old. It’s still the same job.
“If you don’t have that many people, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do with the people you have. The older people just kind of got to get in better shape until we get more younger people in the fire service.”
Garing competed as a way to show others what they’re capable of. He won the gold in the men’s master category with an event-best time of 3:05.
“It was tough because you run out of gas about halfway through it, and you have to dig really deep to try and get the rest of it done in a decent amount of time,” Garing said. “The exercise will tire out your legs really fast.”
Garing goes to the gym or does CrossFit a few times each week to stay in shape. The latter, he said, is identical to firefighting with the peak performance it demands over short durations.
Matthew Lascola, a firefighter for the city of Washington, finished with a gold medal in the men’s senior division (ages 30-39). He had a time of 3:14.87, despite being tired right after the first portion.
“I do a lot of stuff like this actually when I’m at work,” Lascola said. “We work out a lot while we’re at work and I do stuff outside of work, too.”
Wagner stressed the importance of sticking to previously set objectives.
“You’ve got to make it a priority that you’re going to work out,” Wagner said. “Whenever you go home, you’re going to do 30 minutes or you’re going to do however long you set out to do. You’re going to set that goal and just go after that goal.
“If you say you’re going to do 3 miles and you feel like crap after 2, (you can’t) say, ‘Oh, I’m just going to quit.’ Even if you walk it, you’ve got to finish what you say you’re going to do.”
