“This is the Olympic gold medal of firefighting,” he said of the ring he was awarded after becoming the champion in the World Firefigther Combat Challenge Competition, held Nov. 13 in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
More than 900 firefighters from across the world were in Myrtle Beach for the Scott World Firefighter Combat Challenge. The challenge is dubbed “the toughest two minutes in sports.” The purpose of the competition is to encourage firefighter fitness and demonstrate the profession’s rigors to the public. Wearing full bunker gear and the Scott Air-Pak breathing apparatus, participants simulate real-life firefighting by climbing a five-story tower, hoisting, chopping, dragging hoses and rescuing a life-sized, 175-pound “victim.”
“It’s by far the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but when it’s done, it’s the most gratifying thing ever,” the 28-year-old firefighter said. “It’s the worst and best feeling you could ever imagine.”
As a child, Fera said he watched the Fire Combat Challenge on TV regularly and had hopes of one day taking part in the competitions.
“I always knew I wanted to be a firefighter and I’m very competitive,” he said. “But these guys are gods. I never thought I’d be competing on TV, let alone No. 1 in the world.”
He said being named the world champion in a competition he’s had lifelong dreams of being a part of was “pretty surreal, but humbling at the same time. I wish everyone could feel this.”
A seasoned athlete in both hockey and mountain biking, Fera said participating in Fire Combat Challenges is incomparable to any other sport.
These guys are gods. I never thought I’d be competing on TV, let alone No. 1 in the world.
This was Fera’s sixth year on the combat challenge course, and his third year cracking the top 10.
In the 19 years the competition has been in existence, only four other people have completed the course in less than 1:25. Fera’s time was 1:24, which was the fastest time at the 2010 event and earned him the title of world champion in the King of the Jungle category.
Jimmy Kolar, a fellow Sudbury firefighter, joined Fera at the competition and took fourth place in the Over 45 category.
Born and raised in the Sudbury area, Fera is a graduate of the pre-fire service program at Cambrian College. After gaining experience in the profession in southern Ontario, Fera returned to his hometown and has spent the past nine years with the Greater Sudbury Fire Service — three years with the Coniston volunteer firefighter brigade, and six as a career firefighter.
When he returned to the station after winning the competition, Fera said his co-workers were ecstatic for his success. The young firefighter offered his appreciation for the training he underwent with T2 Training Systems, as well as Innotex, who provided Fera with his uniform for the competition.
(Fera appears in the 2011 Sudbury Firefighters calendar, for the month of March.)
