Photos: Northland firefighters tested in combat challenge

Firefighter Alana Thorne of Paihia hits the target with a high-pressure hose. Photo / Peter de Graaf

They call it firefighting's answer to Iron Man or even the toughest two minutes in sport.

It's the Firefighter Combat Challenge, a test of fitness, strength and skill held in the grounds of the Copthorne Hotel at Waitangi on Saturday.

The event, which drew firefighters from Kaitaia in the Far North to Wairoa in Hawke's Bay, was organised by the local branch of the United Fire Brigades Association.

Northland Sub-association president Keith Roberts said competitors had to wear a full firefighting kit, including a heavy air tank, while they ran up four flights of stairs carrying an 19kg hose.

They then hoisted another 19kg hose up the tower on a rope and shifted a 73kg beam using a sledgehammer.

Competitors then had to run through a slalom course, carry a charged hose more than 20m and through a set of swing doors, and hit a target with a jet of water.

Finally they had to drag an 80kg dummy more than 30m.

''They call it the toughest two minutes in sport. The guns, who do this day in, day out, can do it in even less than that,'' Roberts said.

Qualified firefighter Dani Elliott from the Kaitaia brigade hoists a 19kg hose up a tower with four flights of steps. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Senior firefighter Kat Di Lena from Wairoa in Hawke's Bay drags an 80kg dummy during the Firefighter Combat Challenge. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Qualified firefighter Dani Elliott of Kaitaia catches her breath during the sledgehammer challenge. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Recruit firefighter Tayah Kaipo of Waipu drags an 80kg dummy down the challenge course. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Firefighter Alana Thorne from the Paihia brigade competes in the combat challenge. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Senior firefighter Bernie Leef of the Kaitaia brigade pulls a 19kg hose up a tower with four flights of steps. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Kaitaia station officer Kaye Ah Sam shows how the sledgehammer challenge is done. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Kaitaia station officer Ade Gleadell feels the strain as he drags an 80kg dummy. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Paihia station officer Wayne Flood drags an 80kg dummy more than 30m in a simulated rescue. Photo / Peter de Graaf