Last updated 05:36, Friday, 04 July 2008

FOUR firemen from Wigton are feeling the heat as they prepare to walk from Barrow to Carlisle in full kit for charity.

Donning helmet, tunic, over trousers and breathing apparatus, the group will walk around 90 miles, hopefully in under 60 hours, beginning on Friday, August 29.

The full kit weighs over 20lbs and will certainly slow them down according to participant, Alisdair Guthrie.

He said: “We’re calling the walk Feet o’ Fire! We thought it would be something to do during the summer. We have good jobs, so this is a bit of payback to the community.”

Alisdair will be joined by fellow firefighters at the town’s station, Graeme Watters, Kerry Graham and Steven Relph.

They are taking on the challenge in aid of Allerdale Heart and Stroke Foundation, Macmillan Nurses and the Firefighters Charity.

The four are training hard.

Alisdair said: “It’s warm in our kit. It’s good for keeping the heat out – but it’s just as good for keeping the heat in too. We’ll change our socks every eight miles to keep them dry.

“But we are looking forward to the challenge.”

Six-year-old Bethany Jackson, of Wigton Infants School, won a competition to design a poster promoting the event. As a prize, she headed down to the fire station with three friends where they were shown how to use the hoses.

To sponsor the walk, call Alisdair on 07861 685063.