More than 15,000 kilometres from Perth, in the red Arizona borderlands where desert landscapes stretch towards the Mexican border, Western Australia feels a world away. Yet for Fire Fry District firefighter Erik Shisslak, the journey is already beginning.

As co-founder of Arizona Firefighter Athletics, Shisslak is among the first responders preparing for a trip to the other side of the world.

Shisslak and his sister Sara, both former college athletes from the small Arizona border town of Bisbee, first competed at the World Police and Fire Games in New York in 2011. Watching firefighters and servicepeople from around the world compete as unified teams left a lasting impression. When they returned home, the pair set out to create something similar in Arizona, laying the foundations for what would eventually become Arizona Firefighter Athletics.

Some wear the badge of Phoenix Fire, one of the largest fire departments in the United States. Others serve smaller communities scattered along the Arizona-Mexico border. Different stations. Diverse communities. Countless stories. What connects them is not where they come from, but where they are heading.

In March 2027, they will be among thousands of firefighters, police officers, paramedics and emergency service personnel making the journey to Perth for the World Police and Fire Games.

“Going down under is super exciting. There is no place in the world like Australia,” Shisslak says. The chance to meet fellow first responders from around the world, people who understand the realities of emergency service work, is what he loves about the Games. “A firefighter from Australia, China or Sweden knows exactly how it feels,” he says. “To me that creates an undeniable sense of brotherhood.”

While competitors like Shisslak prepare for the trip across the Pacific, another team is already at work down under.

Before the opening ceremony, before the crowds and before the starting gun is fired, there is preparation. Across Perth, volunteers are signing up, organisers are coordinating venues and competitors are squeezing training sessions around demanding shifts. The foundations of a global event are being laid piece by piece, long before most West Australians realise it is on its way.

Held every two years since 1985, the Games are an Olympic-style sporting event for active, retired and volunteer law enforcement, fire service and emergency personnel. More than 60 sports are contested across 10 days, ranging from athletics and swimming to specialised events inspired by the professions of the competitors themselves.

The scale of the Games often surprises people hearing about it for the first time. According to the official World Police and Fire Games website, the Games rank among the world’s largest multi-sport events, second only to the Olympic Games in competitor participation and offering more sporting disciplines than the Summer and Winter Olympics combined.

What began in San Jose, California, has grown into a global event, travelling to host cities across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Australia has hosted the Games just twice before, in Melbourne in 1995 and Adelaide in 2007. Now, almost 20 years later, the event is returning to Australian shores.

But Perth 2027 will be different. While previous editions of the World Police and Fire Games have largely relied on event companies to deliver them, the Perth Games are being shaped by the very people they were created to celebrate. Police officers, firefighters, paramedics and emergency service personnel who have stepped into key leadership roles behind the scenes. And now, they are preparing to welcome thousands of their fellow servicepeople to Perth.

For Andy Lane, the road to Perth 2027 did not begin in Perth at all.

As a Department of Fire and Emergency Services station officer on secondment as one of five sport managers for next year’s event, he has been attending the Games since 2011. Over the years, it has taken him to New York, Belfast, Los Angeles, Winnipeg and China. Lane has competed in everything from half marathons and cross-country races to dragon boat racing and dodgeball. Along the way, he developed a simple belief: Perth would be the perfect host city.

Sitting in a hotel dining room during the 2019 Games in Chengdu, China, Lane found himself sharing breakfast with one of the WPFG federation directors. What started as a casual conversation lit the flame for something bigger. “I’d love these Games to come to Perth one day,” he remembers telling a director.

Within a few years, that conversation had evolved into venue inspections, presentations and a successful bid led by a small Australian team. In February 2024, Perth won the right to host the Games in 2027.

Yet for Lane, the appeal of the Games extends far beyond hosting rights. Ask him why competitors travel across the globe every two years and the answer is swift. “The friendliness of the locals,” he says.

The sport may bring people together, but it is the atmosphere, the conversations and the sense of camaraderie among servicepeople who understand the demands of emergency service work that keeps them coming back. Lane says it is one reason the 2007 Adelaide Games are still spoken about so fondly among returning competitors.

As a “firey”, Lane says there has always been a healthy rivalry between firefighters and police officers. The chance to beat a “copper” on the track, in the pool or on the court is all part of the fun.

“You know we have a crack and then we have a beer afterwards,” he says. The phrase draws a laugh, but it captures the spirit of the Games far better than any official slogan. Across athletics tracks, swimming pools and sporting arenas, first responders compete fiercely. Hours later, many find themselves sitting beside the very people they had spent the day competing against.

Over time, those encounters become friendships. One year it might be a firefighter from Canada. The next, a corrections officer from Belgium or a police officer from the United States. For many competitors, the Games become less about medals and more about catching up and saying “G’day” to the servicepeople they may only see every two years.

After more than a decade attending the Games, Lane has come to realise that emergency service personnel from around the world often experience the same pressures, regardless of where they come from. The Games provide a rare opportunity to step away from those pressures, share experiences and reconnect with a community that understands them.

“It’s part of our mental health,” he says. “We need to get together and enjoy life.”

Those connections are the reason Lane keeps returning. Although he will not compete in 2027, he will help welcome the Games he has spent years travelling to, and the 7500 athletes already registered to take part.

Before a single athlete has arrived, volunteer manager Jacquie Audino and volunteer services coordinator Suchi Kalia already have their hands full. Together, they are helping build the volunteer workforce that will determine the success of the Games.

Sitting side by side in the WPFG Perth 2027 office, Audino and Kalia speak with the easy rhythm of colleagues who have spent months working towards this event. Preparations continue to gather momentum. Volunteer registrations arrive almost daily. Induction sessions begin to fill.

For Audino, a WA Police sergeant with more than three decades of service, the focus was often on the scale of what lies ahead. The Games require more than 2900 volunteers, a figure she discusses with equal parts excitement and responsibility. “We’ve got people from all around the world who are coming just because they want to volunteer with us,” she says.

Volunteer registrations have incredibly surpassed 1500 in just four months, a number Audino and Kalia are thrilled with, believing they will reach their target..

When the pair began delivering online induction sessions, many assumed international attendees would be accompanying athletes. Instead, they discovered a different story. Volunteers from Canada, the United States, Brazil, Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Hong Kong and China had signed up simply because they wanted to be part of the Games.

“We just love coming to the Games,” was a common response, Audino says. Others had a simpler explanation: “We want to come see Perth.”

“Even during online induction sessions you’ll hear volunteers saying, ‘I haven’t seen you since the last Games’,” Audino says. 

For many, Perth 2027 is more reunion than first meeting. A Facebook page has even been set up for volunteers to connect before the Games have even begun.

Despite the international interest, Audino and Kalia are quick to point to something closer to home. For every overseas volunteer registering for Perth 2027, there are also many locals stepping forward to offer their time.

Drawing on her experience as a St John WA event health services volunteer, Kalia believes the response reflects something deeply ingrained in Australian culture. “People want to help out – there’s a natural volunteering culture.”

Both speak less about recruitment targets and more about generosity. Whether it is students fitting shifts around university timetables, retirees offering their spare time, or community members taking annual leave to volunteer, the willingness of people to contribute has become one of the defining features of preparations for Perth 2027.

Audino describes working on the Games as a constant happy place. While policing can bring both highs and lows, she says the atmosphere surrounding Perth 2027 is amazing. “We’re emergency service people delivering the Games for emergency service people. It’s a good feeling.” she says.

By March 2027, many of Perth’s most recognisable spaces will look very different. Flags bearing the Games logo are expected to line Riverside Drive. Thousands of athletes, volunteers and spectators will move between venues stretching from Optus Stadium to the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, Barrack Square and Langley Park. For two weeks, Perth will become the sporting centre of a global gathering of first responders.

Lane has already begun imagining what that transformation will look like. “Adelaide Terrace and St Georges Terrace are going to be all flagged up,” he says. “The Convention Centre is going to be full of our athletes. It’s really exciting.”

For Kalia, Perth 2027 represents an opportunity to introduce international visitors to a city often overlooked in favour of Australia’s eastern cities. “We’re not just saying come and compete,” she says. “We’re saying come and experience Western Australia.” They expect the Games to kickstart a tourism drive to Western Australia.

It is an idea that appears throughout their planning. Competitors may arrive for sport, but organisers hope many will stay longer to explore the state. “Everyone knows Sydney and Melbourne,” Kalia says. “Not everyone thinks about Perth.”

The opening ceremony on March 12 alone is expected to attract tens of thousands of people to Optus Stadium, where internationally acclaimed Australian artist Tones and I will perform.

Two days later, the focus shifts to Langley Park and one of the Games’ largest public events: Super Sunday. This will transform the area into a showcase of emergency service competitions, demonstrations and community activities.

“We’re building a six-storey tower for the Ultimate firefighter event,” Lane says. “There’ll be a bucket brigade, cycling races and a whole heap of fire sports down there.”

Organisers expect more than 20,000 people to attend throughout the day. Firefighting demonstrations, emergency service displays and sporting contests will share space with curious spectators, turning the riverside precinct into a celebration of the professions at the centre of the Games.

The competition itself may provide the spectacle, but for Audino and Kalia, people remain the focus. Throughout the months of preparation, both return repeatedly to the same idea. “I really want them (the volunteers) to feel like we need them,” Audino says. “I want them to have that feeling that they’re essential.”

By March 2027, those volunteers will be impossible to miss. Some will greet arriving athletes at Perth Airport, others will guide spectators through venues, manage accreditation desks, assist media teams or help coordinate transport across the city.

“We have such a huge variety of volunteer roles available. There’s something for everyone,” Audino says. Many have begun preparing long before the Games commence. Together, they will form the workforce holding the event together.

Kalia imagines a city transformed not only by competition, but by the people who make it possible. “Perth is just going to be a buzz of excitement for those two weeks,” she says.

For Lane, the image is equally vivid. He talks about the dodgeball event taking over Barrack Square under lights and music, firefighters racing up temporary towers at Langley Park and thousands of first responders moving through the city. After more than a decade travelling the world as a competitor, he can finally picture the Games unfolding at home.

When visitors return to their countries around the globe, Lane hopes they leave with the same impression. “I want them to say, ‘Wow, that was the best Games they’ve ever been to.’”

For now, much of the work remains out of sight. Volunteers continue registering. Athletes continue training. Organisers continue planning. From volunteers in Perth to firefighters in Arizona. The excitement is building.

When the opening ceremony finally begins, spectators will see the finished product. What they may not see are the years of planning, the volunteer hours, the early-morning training sessions and the people who quietly brought it all together. When the world comes to Perth, the city intends to make an impression.

Want to be part of Perth 2027?

The World Police and Fire Games organisers are still seeking volunteers. Visit wpfg2027.com/volunteer to learn more.

The Perth 2027 World Police and Fire Games will be held from 12-21 March 2027. See wpfg2027.com.