Manchester gets fired up for British Firefighter Challenge

Greater Manchester will see the British Firefighter Challenge take place this weekend in Manchester city centre.

This Saturday and Sunday (29 and 30 July) visitors to the city centre will be invited to come to Cathedral Gardens to cheer on Greater Manchester firefighters, alongside firefighters from across the UK and the world as they take part in this annual competition.

The British Firefighter Challenge is organised by firefighters for firefighters and tests their speed, skill and strength. The event includes entertainment and fun for all the family. Children are invited to have a go challenging firefighters on a mini course.

Dave Russel, Chief Fire Officer at Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be hosting this year’s challenge here in Manchester. It promises to be a great day out for all the family where you can see our firefighters and colleagues from the UK, and further afield, demonstrate their skills and strength in a series of challenges. I’ve been training as part of a relay team and it’s a gruelling challenge but I’m sure with a home crowd it will spur us on over the line.”

The challenge course involves running to the top of the three-storey tower, hauling a hose to the top, running back down the tower, hitting every step on the way down. Then they need to hit a 72kg beam with a 4kg dead blow hammer. Once that is completed, they need to drag a hose 50m, carry four 20kg jerry cans, role up a 50m hose and then run 50m to the 70kg (11 stone) dummy which they must drag 50m to the finish line.

As if the challenge doesn’t sound hard enough, Firefighters compete in full uniform and wear breathing apparatus kit which adds around 15kg (over 2 stone) of weight to carry.

Saturday will see individual races take place which continue into Sunday, and Sunday afternoon sees the relay team races. There is also a child friendly course for children to have a go at over the weekend.

Kate Green, Deputy Mayor for Police, Crime, Criminal Justice and Fire, said: “I’m really looking forward to this event, we’ve been building up to it for a while now with event planning and staff taking part in training. It’s a superb event that raises money for the Firefighters Charity and shows our local community the strength and endurance of our firefighters.”

The free event takes place at Cathedral Gardens, Manchester City Centre, 9am – 6pm both days. It aims to raise money for The Firefighters Charity which supports current and retired fire service staff.