Ararat Fire Brigade members are preparing to prove their worth against representatives from other brigades when they compete at the Victorian Urban Fire Brigade State Championships from March 11-13.
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The Ararat brigade will travel to Bendigo for the state meet.
Events include, the marshal, hydrant race, ladder race, hose and reel sixes, champions fours, Y coupling and ladder eights.
All the events are taken from essential skills brigade members use while fighting fires.
Senior running coach Anthony Passalick said the team needed at least 10 compete, but currently had only six signed on.
“We train once a couple of times a week, including running and the marching,” he said.
“We competed at Maryborough at their demonstration and we finished fifth in the discipline contest for the marching.”
Ararat and Stawell compete together as one team at the CFA Games.
They will be in the C Class, with about 30 other brigades from across the state.
The state championships also include a discipline contest, testing the brigades marching, and a torchlight procession will start at 8.30pm on March 12.
Ararat also competed at a weather-affected demonstration in Warrnambool at the weekend. Sleet, rain and windy conditions forced the cancellation of ladder events, but running events went ahead.
Mr Passalick said the Ararat team was always looking for new members to join, but competitors had to be members of a Country Fire Authority brigade.
Events at Bendigo include;
- Marshal – a competitor races to assemble four lengths of hose.
- Hydrant – competitors run 90 metres, plug a line, place a hydrant into the plug and run over the line.
- Ladder – competitors must run about 20 metres, then climb up the ladder to the top of a tower and touch a sensor.
- Y eight – a team of eight people, with three lengths of hose must hit three different targets. The last length of hose travels up the fire tower and competitors must then hit a final target.
- Champion four – the hose is wrapped around the drum of the cart, teams of four must run with it 90 metres down the track and hit one target.
