Four firefighting stallions are just weeks away from arriving in Texas like cowboys walking through a vast desert landscape under a clear sky. Tākaka Volunteer Fire Brigade father and son Kyle and Neil Gardiner, along with Grant Lawrence and Sam Goffriller, are all fired up for their first rodeo at the World Firefighter Challenge in Dallas.
The hotshots, named the Tākaka 39ers after Tākaka’s station number, had an illuminating win at the National Firefighter Challenge in Wellington in May 2024, sparking their application for the late October showpiece.
Thousands of firies from across the globe will be rapid-fire on the searing course, labelled by sports broadcaster ESPN as ‘the toughest two minutes in sports’.
It begins with rucking a 20kg hose pack up a five-storey tower and hand-over-hand hoisting an equal-weight hose pack once at the top.
Back on the ground, competitors must horizontally thrust a 72kg Keiser Force Machine’s steel beam 1.5 metres with a 4.5kg dead blow hammer before hauling a charged hose through a 42.6m slalom course and spritz a swinging door target.
The challengers are home and hosed after dragging a 74kg manikin 30 metres to the finish line.
Kyle says the 39ers are fuelled for the heat of battle, kudos to their rigorous training regime six days a week at the rear of their brigade and twice a week at Patons Rock’s MohuaFit.
He says they’ll race in individual, tandem and relay categories to blitz their personal bests and make Golden Bay proud.
“The challenge of chasing people who are much quicker, because we’re the quickest in New Zealand, and we want to obviously go quicker,” he says.
“In America, they’re [firefighters] running one minute and five seconds or one minute and eight seconds for their relays, so certainly taking out some personal best would be the one.”
Tākaka to America’s Lone Star state is a pretty penny, and while Kyle says travel fundraising had been hot and cold, their quiz nights, raffles, firewood sales, Golden Bay Lions Club dinners, and a calendar emblazoned with the 39ers kitted and bare-chested were warmly received.
“Estimated cost of the trip is $30,000 to $40,000, so it’s good that Golden Bay managed to pull in those funds,” he says.
“They certainly have [got in behind us] and everyone’s asking when we’re going and hoping that we do well.”
The quad members also have fundraising t-shirts available for businesses, groups or individuals to etch supportive messages on them.
Kyle also says while he and his team haven’t quite got their tongue around the southern drawl, something on their upper lip should resonate.
“We’re growing some [moustaches] out, getting into the ol’ Texan sort of moustache,” he says.
“Neil has a handlebar moustache, Sam and Grant have moustaches, and I’ve got a bit of a goatee going on.”
The 39ers jet off on Wednesday, 15 October, hoping to blaze a new trail.
