Firefighters from around the region and around the country are in Bismarck today and tomorrow (7-9 and 7-10-21) for the 30th Anniversary National Tour of the Firefighter Combat Challenge.
Participants in the challenge race against an opponent and against the clock, simulating the physical demands of firefighting.
"It's not like you go to the gym and work out," said Challenge Director of Corporate Communications Todd Shelton. "They're putting on all their gear, which is 40 or more pounds. Then they're putting an air pack on. By the time they have all that, then they have to carry heavy things upstairs."
As part of the Challenge, the firefighters have to run up a tower that simulates five floors of stairs.
"It's that testing of the human body, and the mind, and the working of them together, and knowing that I may be able to run up that tower and get to the top really quick," Shelton said. "But I also have to do my job, and I have to save the people that are up there."
Shelton said firefighters have to train themselves.
"To where, I get there, I do my job, I save the lives, I do what I need to do, and I go home at night back to my family," Shelton said.
Shelton said there are awards after the competition – but it’s more than that.
"The truth of the matter is, it's no different that, what does a firefighter get when they pull that body out of the wreckage — they get that personal gratification that they were able to do the best they could to give back to their communities," Shelton said.
And Shelton said it gives the general public the opportunity to see what firefighters really have to go through to do their jobs.