First time victory for Cust firefighter
‘‘We keep each other fairly honest.’’
Cust firefighter Simon East has another accolade to add to his brigade’s impressive repertoire.
East was one of nearly 100 contenders putting their driving skills to the test at Ruapuna last weekend in the United Fire Brigades Association (UFBA) National Drivers Challenge.
The win was East’s first time competing in the national championship after taking part in both the Canterbury and West Coast provincial challenges in June and July, respectively.
‘‘My first event, that didn’t go too well at all to be fair,’’ East said.
‘‘The second event, on the West Coast, was much improved and that gave me the impetus to go on, train a bit and go for the nationals.’’
East also led a team from Cust to victory at the UFBA National Firefighter Combat Challenge in March, where team mate Ed Jackman broke the national record, his father Sean took out the over 50 men’s category and the team placed second in the relay.
As a station officer at Cust, it wasn’t often East physically made it to local fires, but it was ‘‘good to show the other drivers you’ve still got it,’’ he said. East said it was thanks to the support of the brig- ade, family and Christchurchbased coach Tom Reid he was able to succeed.
Lincoln’s Richard Reid also placed third in the overall event and told the Selwyn & Ashburton Outlook he admired East’s efforts, acknowledging a friendly rivalry between the two.
‘‘We keep each other fairly honest. We’ve had a good competition between us, and he has worked hard for it and deserves every bit of recognition.’’
UFBA board director and national challenges committee chairman Nigel Lilley said 96 competitors from 53 brigades – from Browns in the South to Kaitaia in the North – took part this year.
Lilley said the whole challenge was designed around simulating exactly what brigade emergency response drivers might face on a daily basis – from emergency lane changes, to reversing squarely into an appliance bay, estimating appliance width and straight line driving and reversing.
‘‘It’s about arriving at an incident safely and speed doesn’t always contribute to this.’’
‘‘There can be only one beneficiary from upskilled fire fighters, and that is our most important customer – our communities,’’ Lilley said.