Firies from Dubbo, Wellington and Trangie exercised their competitive streaks when they joined crews from around Australia in a friendly firefighting competition.
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The teams from local Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) stations competed in heats of the likes of ladder climbing and rescue events, in the 2023 Regional Firefighter championships in Parkes.
The Dubbo team reigned supreme in the ladder competition, for which they placed first and second. They also did well in urban pumper and breeching; hose hydrant and extinguisher; and hose and hydrant competitions, for which they placed third in each.
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Nearby Wellington placed third in the urban pumper collector and ladder competition.
Trangie was a hot competitor, placing third in urban pump disable; booster valve and high rise bag; and the rescue event. They also came second in urban pump suction.
Overall, Trangie placed fifth, Dubbo sixth and Wellington eighth.
![Team Dubbo competes in the 2023 Regional Firefighter championships in Parkes. Picture supplied Team Dubbo competes in the 2023 Regional Firefighter championships in Parkes. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/QQwHRnUv9qYdvjDNLdqaup/7f947cb0-c360-4025-9368-78253031e214.jpg/r0_71_2669_1572_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The deputy captain at Dubbo Station, Scott Drady, said there was always friendly rivalry between the central west teams.
"The Trangie, Wellington and Dubbo teams always compete very vigorously against each other and give each other a bit of stick," Mr Drady told the Daily Liberal.
Trangie beat Dubbo by only 15 points and Mr Drady joked "they did well for a bunch of old fellas".
Fifteen FRNSW teams competed over the two days (Saturday, August 5 and Sunday, August 6) and Parkes, the host team, competed against the local teams as well as Cowra, Goulburn, Griffith and Turvey Park.
They were also tested against other teams from southern NSW, Central Coast, Hunter Valley and western Sydney, as well as teams representing the NSW Rural Fire Service and Victoria's Country Fire Authority.
The winning team was Wyong A which notched up an impressive 1,235 points - 313 more than its closest competitor.
Mr Drady said the Dubbo team had been competing in the championships since the early 1900s.
He said other than "bragging rights, trophies, certificates and awards" the team benefited from the training required to compete.
"Pump operation, hose rolling and hose and branch operation, they're typical actions [performed on the field]," he said.
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He said the training aspect honed firefighting skills into basic operations.
"Not only that, it's passing on the history of the state demonstrations ... to enhance from the old generation into the new tools, new equipment, new processes, and enjoying ourselves at the same time," he said.
"The camaraderie and mateship between all teams, we sit in each other's tents and give each other a hard time but at the end of the day everybody's there for their own win ... and keeping their processes as a secret."
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