Ellen Westwood is a professional interior consultant at Redmonds by day and an Ashburton volunteer firefighter 24/7.
Next month, she will head to Wellington to compete in the national firefighting championships.
The 23-year-old has been with the Ashburton brigade for nearly two years.
She joined because she wanted to help the community.
Competitions have become a way to improve her skills.
‘‘A member of the brigade has competed in these competitions for years and was looking for other people to join them.
‘‘I saw it as a great opportunity to practice my skills and challenge my fitness,’’ she said.
The competitions test skills from across the spectrum of situations firefighters could encounter on a callout.
Westwood became hooked after competing in her first event last year.
‘‘My first competition was Canterbury’s last year, since then I’ve done four,” she said.
She placed second at the Otago Southland event, third at Canterbury and third at the recent South Island competition alongside a third as part of a co-ed tandem team.
In the co-ed tandem she competed with fellow Ashburton firefighter Warren Maslin.
She did the tandem, a relay and an individual race, racing five times.
As well as attending callouts, Westwood trains twice a week for competitions alongside regular gym sessions.
Fitness is important.
The competition involves climbing a six-storey tower carrying a length of 70mm, 19kg flaked hose.
Hoisting a 70mm hose coil, weighing 18kg up those six flights of stairs.
Using a 4kg hammer to drive a beam 1.5 meters.
Using the power of a 45mm hose to knock down a disc.
And dragging a life-sized dummy, weighing 90kgs for 30.5 metres.
For the competitions, Westwood enjoyed being part of team and said it was fun training and competing together.
‘‘I love how challenging the competitions are, It’s a really tough sport but it’s also the most supportive sport I’ve ever been a part of,” she said.
‘‘Everyone really cheers each other on. I think our brigade cheers the loudest for each other.’’
Westwood enjoyed the camaraderie.
‘‘There’s a really good amount of girls at the comps. I think I cheer a little louder watching other girls race, for some girls it’s especially tough trying to drag the dummy.
Last year, she competed in the Firefighter Sky Tower Challenge in Auckland, this year she will be cheering on fellow Mid Canterbury firefighters undertaking the climb.
