Six firefighters from the Powell River Fire Rescue Department have won third place at
the BC Climb the Wall competition.
It’s the first year the department has taken part in the annual race for the BC Lung Association.
They went up against 250 other firefighters from across BC who all tried to have the best time while running straight up 48 floors of the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre.
Those 48 floors -or 739 steps- was made even more challenging as each firefighter carried about 50lbs of gear.
Auxiliary firefighter and team captain Kurtis Dennison says the race was tough but fun.
“That’s quite a bit of extra weight to your body,” said Dennison. “I thought it was going to be brutal, but I actually really enjoyed it. It was tough, but it was quite an accomplishment when we were done.”
He added that the team wanted to show that Powell River, while small, can keep up with other departments around the province.
“We definitely wanted to show that Powell River is not this little place with a little fire department. We have some pretty strong firefighters here.”
The Powell River team finished behind the first place Burnaby and second place Surrey departments.
