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Port Macquarie 1996 Champion pin [Courtesy of John Hand] The Firefighter Championships began as 'Demonstrations' or 'Demos', where fire brigades exhibited their skills to the local community. Events in the Demos were based on real situations firefighters faced daily and were designed to highlight their talent and expertise, whilst having the extra benefit of being a form of training. This week, our Championship historian and guest blogger John Hand takes us back to 1996, when

This week we are looking back thirty years to the year 1996. As Australia looked towards a new century, life was beginning to feel increasingly modern, while many of the traditions and technologies of earlier decades remained familiar parts of everyday life. For the NSW Fire Brigades, 1996 was another busy year, shaped by the people, incidents and developments that form part of our firefighting history. As we look back three decades, we revisit some of the stories that made 1