A team of young Kyneton CFA brigade members recently took on, and defeated, the Chief Officer’s Chargers in one of the most popular events of the CFA/VFBV State Firefighter Championships.
Under 17 team members, Nic Hanna, Sam Foster, Royce Sharp and Spencer Zan, competed in the Chief Officer’s Challenge in front a huge crowd at the State Urban Senior Championships at Shepparton on March 26.
The race pits CFA chief officer Jason Heffernan and three of his deputies against a team of challengers.
The Kyneton Under 17 Juniors won the honour of competing in the event after taking out the wet hose striking one disk twice in the State Urban Junior Championships on the previous weekend.
The race involves the competitors setting a hydrant into a fire plug, coupling the first hose to the hydrant, coupling the branch to the other end of the hose and striking a high disc with water before disconnecting the first hose from the hydrant, coupling the second hose and branch to the other end of the hose and striking the disc with water from the second hose.
The race didn’t go as planned for Kyneton as the team was initially ruled to have made a technical mistake with a hose, however in the re-run of the event the junior team took the win in a time of 21.48 seconds, ahead of the Chief’s Chargers in 22.15 seconds.
Speaking after being presented with their medals, the team paid tribute to their coaches, Brett and Emma Magrath, who had worked tirelessly with them, practising the skills required for the championships.
The team, all students, described the win as a great honour, saying they were thrilled to be able to perform in front of the chief officer and CFA’s senior operational leaders.
