Fairfax County is one of five locations across the world in the running to host an international police and firefighter competition in 2013.
The 10-day event, conducted by the California Police Athletic Federation, would bring competitors from about 60 countries to join in events ranging from ice hockey to wrestling to a bucket-brigade contest, said Mike Graham, president of the World Police & Fire Games. Participants include full-time and retired firefighters and police. Fairfax County, he said, is competing with cities in Canada, Ireland and Austria, as well as Denver, to be the home of the games seven years from now. The city or county must be able to accommodate and influx of about 30,000 people lasting for more than a week, he said.
“There was interest from all over the world [in hosting],” Graham said. “And we narrowed them down to these five.”
An inspection team will come to Fairfax County in mid-September to evaluate factors such as hotel availability, restaurants, athletic facilities. County officials expect as many as 10,000 participants and 15,000 accompanying visitors if they win the bid. The final decision will be announced at the May 2007 games in Australia.
