Competition and Camaraderie

New Zealand firefighters Rob Holah and Donny Butters recently travelled to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to compete in the 20th annual Firefighter Combat Challenge World Challenge. Holah said camaraderie is one of the biggest elements of the competition, and winning is secondary. “It’s less about racing other people than it is racing yourself,” Holah said. “We always need a personal challenge, and this is as big as that can get.” Before the competition Holah and Butters stopped at the Augusta Fire Department to climb the five-story training tower. In his fastest time ever, Cunningham completed the course in one minute and 22 seconds. To him, the best results come when it hurts the worst and when his heart is fully in it. “Everything you have inside, everything you feel, this is the place I like to feel it,” Cunningham said. About 800 firefighters from around the world competed.