THUNDER BAY – Members from police and fire rescue were seen this Thursday at Superior North EMS headquarters barbecuing food and hosing off a few dirty ambulances.
This was how these front-line officers paid up on their debts to Superior North EMS, which came out the victor in the friendly cross-department competition to raise the most money for last year’s Polar Bear Plunge.
Together the three services raised roughly $40,000 with EMS raising $17,000 or roughly 42 per cent of the total on its own.
Brenden Forbes, peer support and wellness coordinator for Superior North EMS, is taking the lead for his team this year. He said that while he hopes EMS wins again, he’s just happy to be supporting some local organizations.
“It’s a great way to contribute to multiple local charities at the same time. Pro-Kids, CNIB, Roots to Harvest, and Special Olympics all at the same time. It’s a great fundraiser,” he said.
“The whole community gets involved and it’s just fun.”
Fire rescue, which came in second place during the competition, did get sent out on a call early into the event but unfortunately for them it only gave EMS the chance to take their trucks out and get them even dirtier.
Robert Sheppard, a firefighter with Thunder Bay Fire Rescue, said even though the team didn’t win last year, everything was all in good fun. He said that while he doesn’t know if EMS can even be beat this year, he’s just happy to not be in last place.
“Last year, we did take second place. We’d just like to remind police of that, they were dead last,” he said. “But we’ll see what happens. There’s a lot of time left so we’ll see who can raise the most.”
Tom Armstrong, member of the police service and the police association, said while police are taking their lumps, they’re still going to have fun trying to get first place this year.
“I think as it stands now, this year we’re behind medics and ahead of fire. So, even if we can coast in the middle, I’ll be happy if we can climb to number one,” he said.
“But I suspect everybody might make a move and we’ll have to pull up our socks.”
The Thunder Bay Polar Plunge takes place this year on April 6. You can support your favourite teams, be they EMS, Fire Rescue, Police, or any of the other many teams participating by visiting the Polar Plunge’s website.
