A Flin Flon native continues to establish himself as a high-level firefighter.
Lieut. Darrick Graff, a firefighter in Thompson, competed at the 2015 Scott World Firefighter Combat Challenge, held in Montgomery, Alabama, from Oct. 19 to 24.
Of 600 competitors from around the globe, Graff finished 25th overall, completing a grueling obstacle course in less than 90 seconds.
Wearing full bunker gear and a breathing apparatus, pairs of competitors raced head-to-head as they simulated the physical demands of firefighting.
They performed a series of five tasks: climbing a five-storey tower, hoisting, chopping, dragging hoses and rescuing a life-sized dummy.
For his efforts this year, Graff, 28, received a jacket, helmet sticker, lapel pin and certificate of achievement at the “Lion’s Den” induction ceremony.
Two Manitoba firefighters – Graff and one-time coworker Brett Ash of Winnipeg – were among the participants from Canada, the US, Germany, Australia, France, New Zealand, Brazil, United Kingdom, Argentina, Chile and South Africa.
Graff placed 50th at the competition in 2014 when he finished the course in 91 seconds.
This year marked Graff’s sixth time at the international challenge. He first entered in 2009, when he was still a volunteer firefighter in Flin Flon, and resumed his annual participation after joining the Thompson Fire Dept. in 2011.
He became a firefighter out of a need for variety and a sense of contribution.
“I worked in the mine in Flin Flon forever and, not to take away from that or anything, but it was just the same thing every day,” Graff told The Reminder last year. “But with this job, it’s something new every day. You get to give back to your community, which is great, and you work with some good people who are all there for the same reason. It’s good teamwork, good environment. It’s good to be able to give back.”
