August 12, 2019
NEWS PHOTO MO CRANKER
Robyn Wheeler puts together a basket of goods that is up for auction online to support two fire fighters travelling to Ontario to compete at this year's Fire Fit Nationals. The items can be found on the Facebook pagfe 'Box Springs Fire Online Auction.'
mcranker@medicinehatnews.com@MHNmocranker
A pair of county firefighters are getting ready to head to Ontario for the annual Fire Fit Nationals at the end of September.
Before Mike Riggs and Kailen Petz leave to compete against the nation’s fittest firefighters, they are hoping to raise funds to help make the trip possible. Their friend, Robyn Wheeler, has started an online auction on Facebook with the hopes of easing their costs.
“Mike and Kailen have to pay for everything out of pocket for this trip so one of the captains of the hall asked around to see if anyone had ideas for fundraising,” said Wheeler. “I’ve seen a lot of these auctions on Facebook so I reached out to businesses to see if they would be willing to help us out.
“I’ve put together a number of baskets and created a Facebook group – everything is there and that’s where people can bid.”
The virtual auction is running until 5 p.m. Friday, and Wheeler says there’s something for just about everyone.
“There’s a really good mix of things – lots for men and women,” she said. “Whatever we get from the auction will help the guys with whatever they need the money for this trip – whether it’s a hotel room, flights or other expenses.”
The two men work out of the Box Springs Fire Department and will be going up against Canada’s best firefighters in a number of different physical challenges.
“They’ll have their bunker gear and their masks on and for some of them they’ll even be competing with their tanks on their backs,” said Wheeler. “The games are essentially looking to see who is the fittest firefighter out there.”
Firefighters, including Petz and Riggs, competed earlier in the year at a stair-climbing event in Calgary – the team climbed roughly 1,200 stairs in their gear which weighs around 75 pounds.
Wheeler says she is hoping to raise about $500.
The auction can be found by searching Facebook for ‘Box Springs Fire Online Auction.’
