Fire truck pull adds some heat to a hot day in Penticton

PENTICTON – With a forecast calling for temperatures to climb above 30 Celsius for the weekend, many Penticton residents were heading for the beach for the first time this season or just relaxing in the backyard today. Others headed downtown this morning to pull a fire engine down Main Street. 

The first annual Muscular Dystrophy Canada Fire Truck Pull, June 6, hosted by the Penticton Fire Department, saw 17 teams participate in the fundraising event.

Fire inspector Mike Richards says they are really pleased with the turnout and plan to hold the event again next year.

“We’ve had entries from a cross section of the community, including local business, fitness centres, outlying fire departments and schools,” Richards says, who was busy tracking the various competitions this morning.

He says the department hopes to attract a couple of kids’ teams next year.

The teams competed in double knockout heats, each pulling a 31 foot fire truck, which weighs roughly 35,000 lb, a distance of 50 feet.

In the final, the Penticton auxiliary firefighters prevailed in the contest with staff from the Lake City Resort.

Richards says teams from Penticton High and Princess Margaret High Schools competed with the loser having to wear the opposite team's colours to school. Look for Pen High students in Maggie colours next week.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad at sarstad@infonews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.