A Bridgeport firefighter can now say he's one of the strongest in the world. Lt. Carlos Reyes, 34, recently competed in the 2026 World's Strongest Firefighter contest.

“I started working out at a gym at 13 years old, and I fell into strength competitions through friends when I was 16. So, since 2008, I’ve been actively competing in both strongman and power lifting,” Reyes told News 12. “Strongman is different than what people think about conventional weightlifting where it's lifting barbells in the gym or trying to lift weights over your head. Strongman is all about odd object lifting.”

It's a passion for Reyes. So is his job with the Bridgeport Fire Department, which you could say, runs in the family. His dad recently retired from the department.

“I went to college, wasn't really passionate about what I studied, fell into the fire service almost kind of by accident,” Reyes explained. “Ten years later, it's the best decision I ever made.”

Earlier this month, Reyes got to merge his love of the fire service with his love of fitness competitions. He took part in the World's Strongest Firefighter contest in Columbus, Ohio, an annual event started by Arnold Schwarzenegger after the catastrophic California wildfires in 2018. The competition honors first responders and raises money for several charities.

“There's over 150,000 people in attendance. The crowd is incredible. Not just in this community but nationally, people love their firefighters. So, we really had a huge crowd. That was very motivating to put on your best performance,” Reyes said.

He went up against over 120 firefighters from across the U.S. and seven other countries in fire-themed feats of strength, including lifting tires, pulling fire trucks and carrying fire hydrants.

Reyes placed third in his weight class and made it to the finals where he got 10th overall. That's no small achievement. He did it with the backing of his fellow Bridgeport firefighters, many of whom watched the live stream.

“We were blown away!” said Chief Lance Edwards, adding that Reyes is more than just muscles. “Very energetic, very professional, loves what he does, loves helping people, and really just a great ambassador—not just for the Bridgeport Fire Department, but the fire service as well.”

Reyes has done competitions for 18 years but admitted this time was different.

“When you're competing as an individual, you're competing for your own accolades, but I felt like I was there just representing the Bridgeport Fire Department,” Reyes explained. “Having that support behind me and really what that patch means to me, really gave me an extra push to do my best.”

Reyes told News 12 that strongman training is great preparation for what he does on the job. He plans to return to the contest next year, hopefully with a crew of local firefighters.