Who’s the toughest of them all?
The Toughest Firefighter Alive (TFA) South Africa competition started yesterday, Thursday 5 October.
Mossel Bay is hosting the competition for three years in a row, 2022 to 2024. Last year, the event drew a record number of entries from all over the country and this year more than 250 firefighters are competing at De Bakke until 7 October.
The competition has been extended by an extra day. The junior firefighter challenge, for children aged three to 12 years old, takes place tomorrow, 7 October from 10:00.
Registration can be done at De Bakke from 09:30.
The event is part of the Mossel Bay Sports and Recreation Festival, organised by Mossel Bay Municipality.
The competition is aimed at improving service delivery through fitter, stronger firefighters, enhancing community relations, motivating firefighters and restoring local and national pride in the fire service.
Mossel Bay is entering two male teams and for the first time ever, a women’s team. There are also five individual firefighters competing.
A word of support from the head of municipal Fire, Rescue and Disaster Management Services, Joseph Johnston: "It is said 'a good firefighter knows how, an educated firefighter knows why'.
"In the fire service, knowledge, skill and experience contribute to great successes when dealing with emergency incidents.
"Firefighter safety is one of the most important aspects to be considered during emergency scene operations and it is the responsibility of every individual, including the incident commander, to ensure it is implemented before response to emergency incidents has commenced. "Continuous training at fire station level ensures firefighters are geared to face any challenge during the call of duty.
"Don’t train until you get it right, train until you can’t get it wrong. Repetition and training scenarios safeguard against major loss of life, property and the environment.
"Professionalism calls for a high standard of knowledge, skill and fitness."