Celebrating the 160th anniversary of the Firefighting in Latvia, on Thursday from 11:00 and Friday from 10:00 at the Jelgava Technology Secondary School stadium, Meiju street 9, Jelgava, the Baltic States Championship in firefighting sports “Strongest Firefighter” will take place, at the end of which the strongest Latvian and Baltic firefighter-rescuer, the strongest Baltic team, as well as the winner of the competition in the overall standings will be determined. SThe winners of the competition will be determined in individual, tandem and team competitions. Firefighters from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland and Germany will take part in them. The competition is implemented within the framework of the Latvia-Lithuania Cross-Border Cooperation Programme project.
Good physical fitness and the profession of firefighter are closely related. The "Strongest Firefighter" competition is called the hardest two minutes in sports, because it requires very good physical fitness and professional skills from the participant, so I wish all participants in this competition endurance! This year we have the honor to host the Baltic Championship in Jelgava, which will feature more than 80 of the strongest firefighters and rescuers from five countries. We are pleased that this year we are also part of the Jelgava city festival program, so we will offer residents not only to watch exciting competitions, but also to get acquainted with our latest equipment and discuss safety issues," says Raivis Pužulis, Head of the Zemgale Regional Department of the State Fire and Rescue Service.
The opening ceremony of the competition will take place on Thursday at 11:00 and will be addressed by the heads of the fire services of the Baltic States, a representative of the Jelgava City Municipality and the director of the Jelgava Technology Secondary School. The first start will be given at around 11:30.
The distance of the "Strong Firefighter" competition is based on a sport popular in Europe and the USA that tests the professional skills and physical fitness of firefighters. The distance consists of five stages – climbing the tower while carrying a bundle of hoses, rolling a roll of hoses onto the top platform of the tower, testing strength by hitting a rail with a hammer, pulling a hose full of water, and carrying a nearly 90 kg dummy to the finish line. The entire distance is covered in a special protective suit for firefighters and rescuers, and in individual competitions, participants breathe with the help of a breathing apparatus. This simulates as closely as possible the conditions under which firefighters rescuers must work in a fire.
We invite spectators to watch the competition at the stadium. Admission is free.
The competition is organized within the framework of the Latvian-Lithuanian cross-border cooperation program project "Strengthening firefighting capacity in Klaipėda and Kurzeme regions for fire mitigation" (FireLess, LL-00275). Its implementation period is from March 1, 2025 to February 28, 2027 (24 months), and the budget is 329,335.92 EUR (VUGD budget share 65,867.19 EUR, EU co-financing 263,468.73 EUR).
