Cd'A Fire Department to begin CrossFit workouts

COEUR d'ALENE - The Coeur d'Alene Fire Department is officially CrossFit.

The local emergency responder will implement its own high-intensity workout as part of its training model, just as the Spokane and Spokane Valley departments have done.

"These guys don't know what they're going to be doing, if they are going to be running from somebody, at somebody, carrying somebody," said Jonathan Burns, Crossfit co-owner. "They need to be ready, they need to be fit, and this is hands down the best way to get ready for that."

The department has two certified CrossFit trainers and enough equipment to get started with its own program, borrowing the facility's 12-step boot camp as a model to better health.

The department has paired with CrossFit before. Saturday, the two raised money for three charities in a workout called Fight Gone Bad.

CrossFit Coeur d'Alene raised more than $3,000 for Livestrong, The Wounded Warriors, and The CrossFit Foundation. Livestrong raises money for cancer research while the Wounded Warrior raises money for injured soldiers and the CrossFit Foundation assists the families of first responders who have died.

CrossFit as a collective group raised over $1 million this year for these causes.