Professional tornado hunter visits the city helping to raise money for burn fund

By Jeremy Appel on July 19, 2018.

jappel@medicinehatnews.com @MHNJeremyAppel

The host of CMT’s Tornado Hunters was in Medicine Hat Wednesday as part of a regional tour, while participating in a fundraiser for the local Firefighters Burn Fund.

Chris Chittick, who resides in Regina, has hunted tornadoes since 1998, before going to business school to monetize his hobby.

“It’s a huge rush, obviously,” Chittick said outside the Big M Ford dealership on Trans-Canada Way, where hamburgers, hot dogs and chips were sold to raise money for the burn fund.

“I’m a camera guy, so for me, the whole point of it is to catch (the tornado) on camera and share what I’m seeing with the world, via social media, YouTube, the TV show, whatever.”

This year has been “pretty active” for tornadoes in the Prairies, he added.

The event was sponsored by Line-X, a protective coating company, which Chittick called “some of the toughest stuff out there.”

Steve Lunge of Line-X said since Chittick was going to be in town, the company wanted to host an event with him, since he uses Line-X for his tornado-chasing truck.

They figured it would be a good opportunity to raise money for a charity.

The company also wanted the fire department to be involved, allowing them to choose whatever charity they wanted for the proceeds to go toward.

“They picked their burn society and we’re happy to do it,” said Lunge.

Note: This story has been updated to correct the Chittick’s surname throughout.

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