TENTERFIELD’S fire brigade has cemented itself on the fire service map following a high placing at the weekend’s Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) Firefighter Championships.
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Held in Swansea, near Newcastle, the Tenterfield team of Todd Mumford, Marc Kelly, Cole Crotty and Greg Blackler walked away with a fifth place.
Seventeen teams from throughout NSW including Tamworth, Port Macquarie, Dubbo and Mudgee competed in the championships.
Each team competed in 11 events over the weekend which saw the Victorian team from Echuca claim the championship over reigning state champions Kelso and the RFS team from Kootingal.
“Over the two days we picked up two seconds and a third place,” Tenterfield member Todd Mumford said.
“It really puts Tenterfield on the map in the eyes of Fire and Rescue NSW.
“We beat out a lot of teams who have been competing for a long time,” he said.
Showing their honed abilities, Tenterfield were in the top three in the rescue event, two-man hose and hydrant and the booster valve and high rise event.
The championship was officially opened by FRNSW Acting Commissioner Jim Hamilton on Saturday who said the competition was a terrific opportunity to meet firefighters from across the state.
“The competition was extremely close with a number of teams trying new techniques and combinations for the upcoming State Championships to be hosted by the Kelso brigade in October this year,” Mr McNeil said.
The local group will now reconvene and prepare for the State Championships in October.
“Leading up to this event we did our normal drills and extra training. We trained for about a month during daylight savings after work, on the weekends, when we could really,” Mr Mumford said.
He expects they’ll do a similar thing in the build up to the October challenge.
As a volunteer group they have required a little community support to help their endeavours and Mr Mumford said he was hopeful they’d see similar support this time around.
“We have to find our own way to these things and pay accommodation, food and fuel. The community backs us 100 per cent,” he said.
“We have to thank them because they’ve always helped us.”
The group will look to hold a couple of fundraisers in the lead up to the event with details yet to be confirmed.
