By Callum Ludwig
Our local fire brigades put their comradery behind them for a night on Wednesday 22 February, as crew members turned out for the ‘Local Firefighter Olympics’ at the Wandin East Oval.
Silvan Fire Brigade was the reigning champion, having been able to hold on to the trophy for the last three years by default, but it was Hillcrest CFA who took home gold and bragging rights for a year.
Hillcrest CFA member Pochelle Poulton said it’s a nice time for brigades to all hang out with each other and have a bit of fun.
“It’s normally held in January, as a little downtime in what can be a busy fire season, where we can not worry,” she said.
“At times when we see each other it is during stressful situations, so it’s nice to be able to let our hair down and have a good time.”
Seville, Wandin, Wesburn/Millgrove and Warburton were the other brigades up against Silvan and Hillcrest hoping to take home the title as this year’s Olympic champions.
Brigades competed in a number of events, including water bucket and branch relays, to drafting water from bins, knapsack use, a foot race around the oval, hose bowling and finding items on their truck, all coming down to the tug of war to split the final teams.
Ms Poulton said some weren’t too happy that Hillcrest won.
“We are definitely happy, they say that we cheated, but I can assure you we did not. We get the trophy to hold for the rest of the year that we get to put our name on and then come this time again next year, the trophy is up for grabs again,” she said.
“Things like this are important because you do see some distressing stuff and you wouldn’t be able to get through it if you didn’t have friends within the brigades. It’s nice to have something away from going to call-outs all the time.”
