Mzansi’s toughest firefighters compete in Mossel Bay

Mossel Bay hosted the Toughest Firefighter Alive South Africa (TFA-SA) competition, with 400 firefighters nationwide participating over the weekend.

The top firefighter fitness challenge determines who represents South Africa internationally.

Emile Conrad from the Garden Route region won the Toughest Firefighter Alive SA title for the seventh time. Conrad recently won bronze at the World Firefighter Games in Denmark.

Conrad spoke to the SABC about the importance of fitness in firefighting: “With the toughest firefighter, it’s such a high intensity, especially for us doing it competitively. You push yourself to the red, and then there’s an element of recovering that comes into play in real life as well.

“Because our environment is unfamiliar, you don’t know what to expect, how long you’re going to fight, and if you’re going to fight for your own life or someone else’s. So physical fitness to me is the most important component for any first responder or firefighter.”

The Garden Route district municipality team won several top honours. Top achievers will represent SA in Europe.

Mark Smith of TFA International praised South African firefighters’ international reputation. In July, a Working on Fire team was sent to Alberta, Canada, their sixth deployment since 2015.

Top TFA 2024 Achievers:

• Overall winner: Emile Conrad, followed by Molefe Ntatho and Tandiswe Makrola.

• Best Relay Team: Emile Conrad, Heinrich Leslie, Kervin-Lee Gericke, and Ethan Wildeman.

• Bronze for over 40s Relay Team: Deon Stoffels, Johnathan van Vuuren, Branville Abrahams, and David van Niekerk.

Compiled by Staff Reporter

Pictured above: Emile Conrad in action, and cheering on teammate Ethan Wildeman. 

Source: Garden Route District Municipality.