It was a busy day for members of the Humboldt Fire Department on Sept. 17 as they competed in the 2016 Annual Firefighters’ Rodeo hosted by PotashCorp Lanigan.
The department did not see tremendous results during the competition as they failed to reach the top three in any of the seven events but despite the rough outing Humboldt Fire Department Captain and rodeo Co-coach, Darcy Leonew, was very pleased with the effort put forth by the team.
“The boys had a good day… I think they did alright today they gave it everything they had today. They learned a lot today. It was a good day.”
Participating in the rodeo is really important for the growth of the firefighters, says Leonew.
“They have to use their heads to think on a lot of scenarios just like they would do on a normal fire call… They picked up on a lot of stuff that they learned from other fire departments and other fire departments learned stuff from them so it’s a good feedback back and forth for them.”
Leonew was really impressed with his teams’ dedication to the rodeo leading up to the competition.
“I’ve been coming to this rodeo for 13 years and I’ve never had a group like this. These guys in the last two weeks were actually phoning me when we were going to have practice instead of me having to phone them… They’re a close knit group and I hope they stay together on the department for a long time because I really enjoy having them on here.”
Looking ahead Leonew says the Humboldt Fire Department is in good hands should the team members decide to continue their careers as firefighters.
“Nothing pleases me better than to see five guys like this coming up into the ranks and are going to be taking my spot when I step off the department.”
