Iroquois Firefighters Bring Home the Gold

“This was truly a great day, and great games,” said Harold Workman, sports committee chair for the 2016 Eastern Ontario Firefighters Association Games, held in Iroquois June 17-18. “The set up for the events, the camping arrangements, everything was excellent. Hats off to the guys from Iroquois.”

And when the 104th EOFA games were over, the ‘home team’ also came out on top.

Iroquois Station 1-4, South Dundas Fire and Emergency Services took first place with 34 points in the 11 events which make up the annual Games.

Second place was won by Augusta Fire Department with a score of 33 points. Throughout the day long competition, there was often a less than 1.5 second difference between first and second place.

“We’ve been working for about two months to get set up for this competition,” said deputy chief Philip Thompson. “There’s been a lot of help from the guys, a lot of effort. And we were also very fortunate. The weather co-operated all weekend.”

This year also marks the 75th anniversary of the Iroquois fire department. In honour of that milestone, the  Department of Defence sent a CC 130J Hercules in a celebratory 9 a.m. fly over of the town to officially start the Saturday games. 

Nine teams, including Edwardsburgh/Cardinal, Augusta, Mountain, Winchester, Carleton Place, Prescott, Athens and Morewood took part in the 2016 competition. “All the teams are made up of volunteer departments,” Thompson said. “Each station is allowed two teams in most events. The Iroquois team is made up of 13 racers.”

Competition events are designed to test the training and skills of the volunteer fire departments. Because every actual emergency call is a race against time to save lives and property, fire fighters compete against the clock. Tests ranged from the Five Man Bunker Gear Ladder Climb, to the Four Man Hose Coupling to the Eight Man Bucket Brigade. Judges are members of EOFA, retired from active service.

“The Iroquois guys are putting their best effort into every event, no matter what the outcome,” said Deputy Chief Thompson. “We’ve tried to train for everything.” That training paid off with the winning trophy.

This year, the Iroquois planners changed the location of the Games, holding them in the field in front of Seaway District High School. Beech Street was blocked off to provide a venue for some of the races, and the student parking lot became the site of the ladder and bucket events. The new location also provided rough camping sites for many of the fire fighters, who stayed for the entire weekend.

Some special activities were also an exciting part of the Games weekend.

Friday night, the Golden Gears Car Club transported the spouses of the fire fighters on a tour of Iroquois, riding in members’ vintage vehicles. The tour included a stop at the Point. There the visitors were greeted by fans attending the Galop Canal Bluegrass Festival, enjoyed a look at the Locks, and heard a brief talk about the history of this area from Golden Gears member Jim Millard.

At 7 p.m. on Saturday, in dress uniforms, all the fire fighters took part in a parade through Iroquois, led by the Kemptville Legion Branch 212 Pipes and Drums. The awarding of trophies took place back at the Games Judges’ stand on Beech Street. A wrap up dance and celebration were hosted by Iroquois Legion Branch #370.

“It’s been an amazing turn out, and everything just went really great,” said Iroquois fire fighter, Chris Paulino, summing up the 2016 EOFA Games held here in South Dundas.

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