Australian Firefighters Posed With Taiwanese Firefighters For Their Charity Calendar And It’s Too Hot To Handle
This year’s calendar has a special edition with Taiwanese firefighters.
Australian firefighters are back and ready to set our hearts racing, with the release of their 32nd edition of the popular annual charity calendar.
Since its launch in 1993, the calendar has raised over US$3.4 million dollars for several Australian and international charities, ranging from animal conservation to medical research.
This year’s calendar has a special edition with Taiwanese firefighters.
As part of the collaboration, six Taiwanese firefighters traveled to Australia to join 10 Australian firefighters in the calendar.
This year is also the first time the calendar features a woman firefighter, Chou Pei-ju from Taiwan.
"Actually in terms of the scope and specificity, women firefighters are great and brilliant at their jobs. In a lot of areas, actually men and women both have their own advantages and delicacy," Chou told Almost. "So I highly recommend women go out there and do it."
The firefighters are selected through a rigorous process, they need to possess certain traits and qualifications including, physical fitness, appearance and charisma.
"We were notified to gather and then have our photos taken together and then... you know, take off our tops, and then have our photos taken,
and then at the end, the supervisors maybe voted or they chose the representatives based on the supervisors’ standards," Chen Guan-shun, the Taiwanese firefighter on the cover of the calendar, told Almost.
"For eating and drinking outings, don’t invite me. Or else we’ll have to end our friendship. Stuff like steak cannot appear near me. Delicious smelling instant noodles also cannot appear near me after 11 pm," Chou said, laughing.
The calendar aims to raise funds for multiple charities, it supports causes such as wildlife conservation and assistance for children with cancer.
"We do really fantastic work, but it's the animal side of things that really gets me," Alex Eldridge, an Australian firefighter told Almost, adding that he had adopted a dog he pulled out of a house fire and named her Amber.
"I never expected to go to work one day and come home with a dog," he added.
The Aussies also visited Taiwan and donated US$6,000 to an animal shelter.
The Australian firefighters also participated in multiple events in Taiwan and competed in fun challenges against the Taiwanese team.
"It’s all about giving back to the community that I live in," Australian firefighter Ben Church told Almost. "I've been doing rescue work for about 12 years now. I worked in the mining industry as a rescue operator and now I'm very fortunate to be in a position where I can still do that, as well as give back to the community that I live in and make sure that my community is safe."
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