The World Firefighters Games is an international sporting event that welcomes all full-time, part-time and volunteer structural firefighters, aviation fire services, emergency response personnel and their direct family from all across the globe.
The games began in 1988 with the first ever World Firefighters Games held in Auckland, New Zealand, from 22 to 29 April 1990. This initial outing drew 1800 athletes and 1400 supporters from 17 countries. The purpose of the games was to introduce the four following concepts within the services:
To promote health and fitness
To provide a forum for information exchange between fire services
To foster comradeship amongst firefighters
To encourage family participation
The motivation behind the games was to overcome some of the problems with entering the World Police and Fire Games, in that the games are only open to full-time paid firefighters. As most fire services globally use volunteer personnel the World Firefighters Games allows entrants that are full-time, part-time and volunteer, as well as the families of fire service personnel to enter.
After the first games, an attempt was made to register the name to seek profit. When the games were held in Perth in 1994, the organising committee felt so strongly about the games belonging to the firefighter that they bought the rights from the original owners and Perth has become the home of the world governing body, "World Firefighters Games WA Inc". The governing body licenses each fire department and allows use of the name and branding for the running of the event. The governing body is entirely a non-profit organization and all proceeds are donated to charity. The largest games to date were held in Chungj, from 10–18 September 2018 with approximately 6,600 athletes and 20,000 spectators.[1]
Toughest Firefighter Alive
The Toughest Firefighter Alive, which is specific to the World Firefighters Games, is carried out in full firefighting kit and tests competitors in a number of firefighting-specific disciplines. There are four parts, all carried out in full firefighting kit.
2. Obstacle course: competitors are required to carry various pieces of equipment whilst negotiating tunnels and walls.
3. Tower: competitors are required to handle and pitch ladders and to carry firefighting equipment up ropes.
4. Stair climb: competitors are required to climb to the top of a tower, the height of which can vary depending on the country but will normally vary from 100-200m.
Games
1990. Auckland, New Zealand 22 to 29 April - 1,800 Athletes, 17 Countries, 34 Events. Winners: New Zealand
1992. Las Vegas, USA 16 to 22 May - 4,000 Athletes, 22 Countries, 45 Events. Winners: USA
1994. Perth, Australia 20 to 26 March - 2,000 Athletes, 21 Countries, 48 Events. Winners: Australia
1996. Edmonton, Canada 28 July to 3 August, 2,300 Athletes, 25 Countries, 54 Events. Winners: Canada
1998. Durban, South Africa 17 to 23 May 1,800 Athletes, 26 Countries, 55 Events. Winners: South Africa
2000. Mantes-La-Jolie, France 6 to 13 July, 4,000 Athletes, 56 Countries, 61 Events. Winners: France
2004. Sheffield, England 28 August to 4 September, 2,500 Athletes, 40 Countries, 59 Events. Winners: England
2006. Hong Kong 18 to 25 February, 3,000 Athletes, 37 Countries, 59 Events. Winners: China
2008. Liverpool, England 25 August to 3 September, 3,000 Athletes, 46 Countries, 74 Events. Winners: England
2010. Daegu, Korea from 21–29 August 5230 participants, 46 Countries, 75 Events. Winners Korean Fire Service
2012. Sydney, Australia 19–28 October 1500 Athletes, 30 Countries, 60 Events. Winners: Australia(the Sydney 2012 World Firefighters Games were conducted by WFG Events Pty Ltd under Licence from World Firefighters Games WA Inc)
2018. Chungju, South Korea, 10–17 September 2018. The largest number of competitors to attend the games 6,600
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