2021 Australian Firefighters Calendar sends international fans wild

On home soil they are our fearless heroes, protecting the community from devastating bushfires. But overseas our Aussie firefighters have built up a celebrity following.

On home soil they are our fearless heroes, protecting the community from devastating bushfires. But overseas our Aussie firefighters have a celebrity following with mammoth crowds following their every step.

The strapping young men who feature in the annual Australian Firefighters Calendar are a hit all around the globe with fans in Russian, Maldives, Japan, Taiwan and Ukraine.

Calendar director David Rogers said the firefighters had been on high-profile American shows including Access Hollywood and USA Today to promote the initiative and the demand for their chiselled looks was growing exponentially.

Mal Wright said the calendar had gone viral overseas.

The Cairns firefighter said their work had become more recognised thanks to the global popularity.

“Last year we went Taiwan twice on the invitation of their government to promote Australia and we sold 3000 trips to Australia. They flew the boys over and we were there for an international travel show and the guys would stand there, and people would line up for hours to see them,” Mr Rogers said.

“I did a press conference there with the mayor of Tai Pei and 400 reporters were there to cover it. These guys are absolutely certified superstars. We’ve done countless interviews with Italian and German media. They are loved everywhere from the Maldives and Madagascar.”

In its 28th year, the organisation has produced six calendars including dog and cat calendars and one dedicated to Australian wildlife.

Canberran Mick found his photo partner in this exhausted roo.

The funds raised will be donated to native animal charities including Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital, Rural Aid and Native Animal Rescue.

Mr Rogers said the calendar’s popularity first exploded in 2017 but Australia’s nightmare summer bushfires of 2019 brought even more global attention with the local product being American’s best-selling calendar.

“It’s amazing how far it has come. Next year we will sell the calendars on the ground in the USA with US military veterans selling them,” he said.

“This time last year we saw another massive surge with people wanting to know more about their work and being conscious about the harm of fires to wildlife.”

Nathan from Sydney. Picture: Supplied

Dennis featured with a Koala.

Cairns firefighter Mal Wright was one of featured faces and said he had noticed an increase in people’s appreciation of their work.

“It’s going nuts overseas at the moment. It’s always been a career that people recognised a little bit but after it was thrust in everyone’s faces over the fires, a lot of people are realising what we do,” he said.

Mr Wright was photographed with an emu and a joey as part of the wildlife calendar and with 16-week-old pups for the dog calendar.

“I sat down and as I did the emu wandered over and started sniffing and sat down next to be and started nibbling on my hair and sniffing my ear and the photographer just went for it,” he said.

“It was intimidating because the emu was massive. The joe on the other hand was a lot lighter than it looked.”

Originally published as 2021 Australian Firefighters Calendar sends international fans wild