Fire Fighting, Sport of

a sport that involves combinations of various maneuvers used in extinguishing fires. Individual and team competitions include various combinations of drills to overcome obstacles, climb fire ladders, and use fire-fighting equipment. The present version of the sport contains six events, all performed in uniform.

The sport of fire fighting originated in the USSR. The first competitions of the fire-fighting protection service of the People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs were held in 1937. Competitions have been held regularly since 1945, with all-Union competitions beginning in 1948. The first championships of the USSR took place in 1965, as did the first all-Union and republic championships sponsored by the Dinamo and Lokomotiv sports societies, the Sports Committee of the USSR Ministry of Defense, and other organizations. All-Union competitions for young people began in 1970. In 1963 the sport of fire fighting was included in the Uniform All-Union Sports Classification, and in 1964 the USSR Federation for the Sport of Fire Fighting was created. In 1974 about 1 million people engaged in the sport, with more than 1,000 masters of sports trained between 1964 and 1974. All-Union records were broken more than 30 times in various categories. V. V. Kipko and N. F. Tarunov were many-time USSR champions and record holders.

In the 1960’s the sport was introduced in other socialist countries and a number of capitalist countries. In 1968 the first international competitions were held in Leningrad, with teams representing the USSR, the People’s Republic of Bulgaria, the German Democratic Republic, the Socialist Republic of Rumania, and the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. Subsequent international competitions were held in the Socialist Republic of Rumania in 1969, the Polish People’s Republic in 1970, the Hungarian People’s Republic in 1971, the People’s Republic of Bulgaria in 1973, and the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic in 1973; teams from some 20 countries participated.