Oxford Hosts Firefighters Winter Carnival

The seats were nearly full, they were lined up at the canteen, and the arena was full of laughter for the annual Oxford Fire Department Winter Carnival.

While people came to see the heavyweight events, there were lots of activities for the kids. Some played in a fun hockey game against Oxford firefighters, showing the older guys a trick or two.

There was an on-ice costume contest where the kids were very creative. There was everything from a Sydney Crosby look-alike, a skating cupcake, a bowl of spaghetti, a tow truck pulling a car, and, of course, a mini firefighter in his fire truck.

The biggest cheers, and laughs, were reserved for the firefighters relay, followed by the annual tug-o-war.

The Westchester Fire Department easily outdistanced Pugwash and Oxford to claim the trophy in the four member relay. It started with a firefighter donning all the gear that would be worn in a fire situation, including the personal, self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA).

Once dressed, the lead crawled to the blue line where a second member exchanged the compressed air tank. The two then crawled to centre ice where they unfurled a pair of fire hoses, throwing them toward another pair of the team who crawled them to the end of the rink and back. The crawling simulates the way firefighters move within a smoke-filled building. The hoses then had to be recoiled and placed on the centre ice red line to complete the relay.

Westchester was so quick with the first stage that they coasted to an easy win. Oxford FD was second, while Pugwash was third.

Highlight of the Night

The tug of war competition proved to be the most entertaining. 

Pugwash took on Westchester to open the event. The PFD chose a team that was light and fast. There was a certain liquidity to their style, but Westchester’s over-powering weight and strength won the pull, setting the final with Oxford.

The host fire department chose an entirely different strategy, electing humour to make their opponents laugh. The lead man on the pull team fell to the ice, almost immediately after the start whistle. He spent much of the pull trying to regain his grip on the firehose as he was bounced around.

While Oxford was reduced to seven pullers, Westchester started to gain. However, they barely pulled the fallen Oxford leader beyond centre ice. He tried to pull from his knees, but elected instead to get to his feet, only to take spill after spill, including at least one cartwheel and a face plant.

With Westchester laughing, the remaining seven on the Oxford team took over, dragging their opponents down the ice to victory. It was most unusual strategy, but don’t knock success.

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