With the sun blazing down, nine Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officers sprint, climb and haul themselves through a three-storey obstacle course - all hopeful to represent the force in the Singapore Global Firefighters and Paramedics Challenge.
The obstacle course is part of the annual competition's Braveheart segment, and is one of the many challenges that will take place during the games tomorrow.
Each year, participants from firefighting and emergency response teams around the world come together to pit their skills, strength and speed against one another in scenario-based challenges.
This year, officers from 13 overseas organisations such as Australia, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Vietnam will be taking part.
The Braveheart segment sees emergency responders go through eight stages that include carrying two 15kg hoses, climbing up a tower and rappelling down its side with a 40kg mannequin, and traversing 35m on a rope.
The cut-off time to qualify for the segment is 10 minutes. When The Straits Times visited the SCDF selections held on Nov 12, most officers did it in just over five minutes.
Two of the officers with the fastest timings were selected to represent the SCDF at the heats today.
One of them is First Warrant Officer (WO1) Azmir Ali Ameer Ali, 34, from the elite Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (Dart). A torn knee ligament had put the three-time Braveheart champion out of action from the games for the past two years.
But during the selection process, WO1 Azmir Ali, who has been with the force for the last decade, emerged top, clocking a timing of less than five minutes for the gruelling course.
"This is the first time I'm back (in the games) after my injury, so I'm quite nervous because I've been out for some time," he said, adding that he has been running and doing strength training to get into shape.
His secret to winning?
"The trick is to do it once, and do it smoothly. And at the same time do it doubly fast," said WO1 Azmir Ali.
While it might seem effortless, the Dart specialist said the hardest part in tackling the course is when he has to pull himself across a taut rope. "It feels like it might never end. And it's the last stage where you're exhausted, that's the killer."
Another segment sees four-member teams responding to a road traffic "accident" and extricating a "casualty" trapped in a vehicle, in what is known as the Rip-It-Off challenge.
Staff Sergeant Muhammad Fitri Abdul Ghafar, also from Dart, said the team he leads spent the last two months "cutting" open scrap cars to prepare for the segment.
Staff Sgt Fitri, 31, noted that in a real-life traffic accident, this could mean the difference between life and death.
"We want to extricate people trapped as fast as possible and in the safest way possible," he said after a training session in which the team stabilised the wheels of a small hatchback, before removing the two doors on the car's left side to "rescue" the "casualty" inside.
While the competition tests the officers' wits and limits, Staff Sgt Fitri said taking part in the annual games is not just about winning as training for the challenges helps them do better in their everyday work.
"At the end of the day, I believe the No. 1 aim for all emergency responders is to help those in need and rescue them as fast we can," he said.
This year, the firefighters and paramedics' challenge is held in conjunction with the Home Team Festival. It takes place at Singapore Expo Halls 2 and 3 today and tomorrow. Admission is free.
