The Wyong fire brigade team took out the State Firefighter Championship at Dubbo’s Ollie Robbins Oval in an event that was a hit for the whole family.
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Hundreds descended on the riverside oval for the event which pits fire teams against fire team in a battle of skill, speed and spirit.
And in a show of personal grit and determination that shows what the event was all about, Dubbo’s own Brett Smyth broke the legendary seven second barrier in the ladder climb – despite carrying a dislocated finger.
Mr Smyth injured the digit in the opening event on Thursday morning and struggled with the pain and limited movement in his practice climb.
A technical failure with the timing meant he was granted a re-run after his first 7.34-second attempt and it paid off; the former Narromine firefighter managed the feat in 6.997 seconds.
He was unlucky not to win the event as two other firefighters also managed to crack the seven-second barrier, with Wyong’s Josh Mackaway ultimately claiming victory with a record-smashing 6.895-second climb.
Bega’s Trent Galli finished second in 6.990 seconds, after becoming the first person to complete the event in under seven seconds.
All three smashed the previous record of 7.16 seconds.
Mr Smyth’s Dubbo A team ultimately finished eighth while the Dubbo B side – thrown together specifically for the home state championship – also performed admirably to finish 17th out of 21 teams.
Meet the Dubbo A team
Wayne Redfern returned to Dubbo to represent his former brigade, and was looking forward to competing in Friday’s three-man hose and hydrant event with his sons Matthew and Bradley.
He competed in his first State Firefighter Championship in 1987.
“I’ve been doing this since I started when I was 15 in the RFS,” Mr Redfern said.
“I love doing what I’m doing, I’ve got two sons in the job as well … we just like doing it, helping the community and getting out and about and meeting people and promoting what we do.
“The championships are good because we’re doing our skills, having fun – a lot of friendly banter amongst everybody – plus it’s good to see how you can go against other teams. But most of all it’s have fun … as long as we can bring a smile to children’s faces and bring our fire safety messages out to them … we’re doing our job really well.”
