Photo courtesy of the City of Vestavia Hills.
Vestavia Hills fire medic Ana Ruzevic was the overall winner in the Division 1 category for women under age 40 at the 2023 Paul Davis Restoration Southwest Region Firefighter Challenge at The Strat in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ana Ruzevic, a Vestavia Hills fire medic assigned to Station 4 in Liberty Park, recently won first place in her age group at a regional Firefighter Challenge event and is scheduled to compete at the U.S. National Firefighter Challenge in September at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
The Firefighter Challenge, labeled by firefighters as the “toughest two minutes in sports,” is an event in which firefighters compete against each other by simulating the physical demands of real-life firefighting.
Competitors wear full gear and self-contained breathing apparatuses and perform tasks such as carrying a high-rise pack upstairs, advancing a charged hoseline and dragging a 175-pound mannequin for 100 feet.
Ruzevic’s regional win came at the 2023 Paul Davis Restoration Southwest Region Firefighter Challenge Championship Event at The Strat in Las Vegas, where she was the overall winner in the Division 1 category for women under age 40.
Ruzevic has been competing in this physically challenging event for the past five years. She won the national event in 2019 and 2021 and placed second in the world competition in 2021.
After competing on the Tulane track team in college, Ruzevic wanted to find a way to challenge herself and keep in top physical shape. Competing in the Firefighter Challenge accomplishes this, along with building friendships with firefighters from other departments, she said.
“Even though these firefighters are competing against each other, all competitors are pulling for each other to do their best,” she said.
Her best time is 2 minutes and 24 seconds, and her ultimate goal is to finish the course in under 2 minutes.
The Vestavia Hills Fire Department issued a statement saying it is proud of Ruzevic and inviting the public to attend the national event in Hoover on Sept. 6-9 to cheer for her.
– Submitted by the city of Vestavia Hills.
