Who knew a game of dodgeball would be a part of firefighter training?

As Steinbach Assistant Fire Chief Russ Reimer explains it’s part of a self-contained breathing apparatus drill where firefighters put on their full turnout gear and hurl dodgeballs at each other all while controlling their breathing under high stress and work levels.

"So the point would be this would translate into how much working time do they actually have on scene before they would run out of air and of course the most critical thing is if we were dragging another member out of a structure that was on fire or performing an elaborate rescue, how far can we go before we ourselves are even in trouble."

Riemer notes firefighters are highly trained in managing stress and controlled breathing techniques in order to make their air tanks last as long as possible. He adds if a member gets trapped or lost and has to call a firefighter mayday, this sort of training can be the difference between life and death.

"They’re wearing 45 minute bottles and if I have to take a pretty good guess, your best-fit people out here today are probably going to be somewhere in that 28 to maybe maximum 30 minute range on the 45 minute bottle," explains Reimer noting the worst he has seen is someone draining a bottle in under 10 minutes. 

"We do this once a year, typically at the end of the year, and firefighters are able to track year by year, did they improve or have they gotten worse and then we’ve got that lovely gym in the corner."

Reimer says this also serves as good team bonding for their members because he notes when you are at the scene of a fire, you must all work together as a team.

"You know towards Christmas time, this is one way that as a fire department we can have some good camaraderie and good bonding, it’s good fun, especially wearing all the gear you don’t feel these balls hitting you a whole lot and dodgeball never ceases to a be a lot of fun."