Steinbach firefighter competes on world stage in FireFit Championships

When Steinbach firefighter Tyler Lanteigne laced up his boots for his first FireFit competition earlier this year, he had no idea just how far it would take him.  

Kicking off the competition 

Lanteigne, who has served with the Steinbach Fire Department for nearly seven years, joined his department’s FireFit team for the first time this year. 

“It’s humbling,” Lanteigne notes. 

“They call it the hardest two minutes in sports.” 

The nationwide event pushes firefighters to their physical and mental limits through simulated emergency challenges. 

The competition season kicked off in Martinsville, Sask., just north of Saskatoon. 

Despite it being his debut, Lanteigne and his five-person team placed second overall — an impressive start to what would become a season of personal milestones. 

“Our second competition, we went to Newfoundland, N.B., which was an amazing place,” Lanteigne says. 

The Steinbach crew took home top medals in multiple categories, including gold for Lanteigne’s team, a bronze in the two-person race, and a rookie gold medal for Lanteigne himself. 

Tyler Lanteigne and his team at the FireFit Championships (photo provided by Tyler Lanteigne)

Competing for health and heart 

For Lanteigne, competing is about more than a medal, it’s about staying healthy and fit for his demanding physical career. 

“One of the main fatalities for firefighters is heart attacks and health issues. For me, this is a good way to stay motivated, to stay in shape,” Lanteigne says. 

“I just want to try and better myself.” 

That mindset paid off when his team qualified for Nationals in St. Catharines, Ont., though Lanteigne wasn’t able to attend. 

The next stop was the World FireFit Championships in Dallas, Texas, where more than 400 competitors from 20 countries came together to put their skills to the test. 

“There were teams from Lithuania, New Zealand, and I’m pretty sure Australia was there,” explains Lanteigne. 

Tyler Lanteigne with his team at the FireFit Championships (photo provided by Tyler Lanteigne)

Pushing limits 

There’s a reason the competition is called the ‘hardest two minutes in sports.’ 

It begins with a high-rise stair climb, where participants wear full firefighter gear, and carry a heavy hose pack up four flights of stairs. At the top, they must hoist another hose — weighing over 40 pounds — up the tower using a rope, before sprinting back down. 

“On your way down, you have to touch every single step,” he notes. 

On the ground, the athletes move straight into forcible entry, swinging a sledgehammer to drive a metal block a set distance. 

When it came to the most challenging part of the competition, Lanteigne says it was the dummy drag. 

“You go grab a six-foot, 175-pound mannequin. And you have to drag that back another hundred feet,” he explains. 

“After that, your legs are shot, and your lungs are burning.” 

Tyler Lanteigne at the FireFit Championships (photo provided by Tyler Lanteigne)

The world’s stage 

Now, as he looks ahead to next season, Lanteigne hopes to earn a spot on the team again. 

Nationals will be held in Fredericton, New Brunswick, and the World Championships are set for the Las Vegas Strip. 

With files from Laura Kathleen Turner