1. Regardless of whether it is day or night, firefighters are always ready to fulfill their duty to protect people's lives, physical safety, and property. Out of love for their hometowns, many volunteer firefighters devote countless hours to training and fighting fires while holding other jobs. Their sole motivation is grounded in the will to protect their homes with their own hands.
Despite the number of such volunteer firefighter organizations across the globe, the truth is that almost no mutual international exchanges have taken place between them. Volunteer firefighters world-wide share a sense of duty towards protecting the safety of lives, physical safety, and property, even though they come from different occupations and classes to pursue this selfless work. To rectify this, plans were drawn to establish an international association of volunteer firefighters associations, with hopes that strengthening international exchanges would make a large contribution to mutual understanding and to the development of firefighting throughout the world.
2. In November 1980, the Japan Firefighters Association commemorated the 100th anniversary of modern Japanese fire fighting at Tokyo Korakuen Stadium. Participating in the centennial celebration were 40,000 volunteer firefighters from all over Japan and representatives of overseas volunteer fire departments who were invited for the occasion. Through openly exchanging ideas on establishing an international federation of firefighters associations, a number of participants realized that they wanted to form this global organization without delay.
3. Following this development, in May 1982 the Japan Firefighters Association made concrete plans for the establishment of the Federation of World Volunteer Firefighters Associations (F.W.V.F.A.) based on the principles of international goodwill and mutual assistance. With the cooperation of all the foreign embassies in Japan, introductions were made to volunteer firefighters organizations through-out the world. At last, the process of building the organization was underway.
4. The first conference of the Federation of World Volunteer Firefighters Associations was held at the Sasakawa Memorial Hall in Tokyo on December 1,1982. Invitations were sent to firefighters associations in Asia, Africa, North and South America, and Europe, as well as to organizations in the Pacific territories. Among the participants were Japanese Prime Minister Nakasone and 42 representatives from seventeen countries. Also, U. S. President Reagan delivered a message to all the participants.
