Representing the Witless Bay Fire Department at the 2026 Regional Firefit Competition on August 22-23 in St. John’s were, from left: Steph Croft, Cutler Walsh, Barry Woolridge and Andrew Gibbons. Missing from the picture are Fire Chief Jack Gatherall and Evan Murphy. Submitted Photo
Six members of the Witless Bay Volunteer Fire Department put their fitness to the test and showed no quit at the regional Firefit 2026 competition held August 22-23 at the Mary Brown’s Centre in St. John’s.
It’s the second year Witless Bay has sent members to compete, and Fire Chief Jack Gatherall said the event is all about pushing firefighters to their limits. This year members Steph Croft, Cutler Walsh, Barry Woolridge, Andrew Gibbons, Evan Murphy and Gatherall accepted the challenge.
“It’s nicknamed the toughest two minutes in sports because it's physically exhausting. It's designed to break you physically and mentally. It’s a real test,” Gatherall said.
The course starts with a six-storey tower climb with a 42-lb pack, not to mention the 60 pounds of gear each firefighter is wearing. That’s followed by a 42-lb hose hoist of about 70 feet, a forcible entry exercise using a chopping simulator, a 140-foot slalom through hydrants, and then an exercise to pull a fully-charged hose 75 feet before knocking down a designated target.
And, just when competitors believe they can’t push their limits any further, they need to drag a 175-lb mannequin backwards for 100 feet.
“It’s definitely the most difficult part of the course. It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve done it or what kind of condition you’re in, it doesn’t get any easier over time. Everybody, when they get to the dummy, they have nothing left. If you drop the dummy, it’s so hard to get it back up … you have nothing left and you’ve lost your momentum,” Gatherall said, saying that most of the times registered by Witless Bay competitors were in the sub-three minutes.
“All our members finished the course … nobody quit, and that’s saying something. We had one member compete at 55 years old and he crossed the line … everybody crossed the line. It was a good showing.”
Gatherall said training has become a priority for the Witless Bay department and the Firefit competition fits into a bigger picture of physical and mental preparation. Training specific to Firefit had some challenges since the department doesn’t have the necessary facilities.
“We started training and we got out to St. John's Regional to use the department’s tower and for us it's a great team building experience,” said the chief. “It ticked a lot of boxes for us. It's really one of the better things we've done in the department as a team.”
Gatherall said there were about 60 competitors total from across the province, but also from other parts of the country.
The Canadian Nationals and Firefit World Championships took place September 9 – 13 in Fredericton, NB.
