Toughest Firefighter Alive South Africa
T
he sixth Toughest Firefighter Alive South Africa 2019 (TFASA) was held at Roeland Street Fire Station in Cape Town on 20 to 21 September 2019 with 106 fire fighters from all over South Africa taking part in this prestigious event. The TFA-SA is based on the international TFA competition, which will be held in Aarlborg in Denmark during the World Firefighter Games (WFG-World Championship) in 2020. The event was officially opened by City of Cape Town’s mayoral committee member (MMC) for Safety and Security, Alderman Jean-Pierre (JP) Smith with Cape Town Fire and Rescue Service CFO Ian Schnetler welcoming the participants. TFA-SA organiser Mark Smith thanked all the sponsors, exhibitors and volunteers for their contributions and shared the inspiring history behind the event. Smith said that the aim of the competition is to promote a spirit of excellence and produce fire fighters who are able to compete on the international stage, to equip them with skills that will enable them to perform to the peak of their abilities, to continue to push the boundaries in delivering a
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better, high quality service and to boost their morale. Toughest Firefighter Alive South Africa was officially started in 2011 with an average of 145 competitors including fire fighters from different municipalities, the armed forces, ports authority and aviation competing in the annual event held in South Africa. The competition is considered to be South Africa’s premier fire fighter challenge. Not only does the TFA challenge the fitness, strength and endurance of fire fighters but it builds morale, confidence and camaraderie between the different teams and team players. The TFA, recognised as the hardest fire fighter competition in the world, is a fitness challenge specifically for fire fighters, where they can compete in various male and female age individual and team categories, with the winners becoming national champions within their age groups. The gruelling challenge consisted of four stages with fire fighters donned in full bunker gear ie fire helmet, fire tunic, fire boots and self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBAs).
2019 Station 1: Hose make-up and advance (hose drag) Station 2: Obstacle course Station 3: High-rise pack carry and hose hoist Station 4: Stair climb (23 floors at the Civic Centre) Results The overall winner of this year’s TFA-SA is Emile Conrad of Garden Route Municipality. Conrad walks away with the first prize for the fifth time in a row! City of Cape Town’s Baigum Abrahams won the female category for the second year in a row. Congratulations! Fire and Rescue International congratulates all the participants and especially the winners!! Compliments go to all contestants for their professional sportsmanship and camaraderie.
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