Meet the Birmingham Fire and Rescue medic representing his hometown in the Games of Heroes

When more than 8,000 first responders from around the globe gather for the 2025 World Police and Fire Games beginning Friday, June 27, Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service (BFRS)’s Michael Peagler, who will compete in boxing, will be among them. It’s a day he never imagined while growing up in the Magic City, he said.

“I was always quiet growing up and I never really thought I would be in this position to fight in front of hundreds of people, and I’m doing this for my job,” Peagler said. “I’m in a situation to be able to do this for the city. This is really amazing.”

Peagler, 24, has been with BFRS nearly four years and is one of an estimated 700 first responders from Alabama competing in the Games. The opening ceremony is at 6 p.m. June 27 in Legacy Arena at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex. The closing ceremony is at 4:30 p.m. July 6 at the Athletes’ Village at City Walk Bham.

In between, competition will span central Alabama from swimming, toughest competitor alive and indoor volleyball at Birmingham CrossPlex to jiu jitsu, judo, karate, taekwondo and wrestling at Birmingham’s Boutwell Auditorium to boxing at the Alabama Theatre to cycling criterium at Talladega Superspeedway, among other sports and locations.

The Games of Heroes, as they’re sometimes called, feature more than 60 sports across more than 30 venues around Birmingham and central Alabama.

Peagler, who has been training for more than a year, shares a love of boxing with his father and recalled the two of them taking in former heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder’s title defense in Birmingham. Peagler also has a close friend in Kansas, whom he calls a brother, who got him hooked on boxing.

“We were planning on training each other … and we sparred, and I fell in love with it,” Peagler said. “The Police and Fire Games came up. I said, this is a good opportunity to really get into it.”

Peagler, who is a welterweight in the 147-pound division, said he trains at least three days a week, mostly at Champions Boxing Gym in Pelham, and “if I could go five days a week [I would], but I work a lot of overtime.”

He grew up in Birmingham’s Grasselli Heights neighborhood with two older sisters and a younger brother and attended Wenonah High School until a house fire forced the family to move to Hoover, where he attended Hoover High School.

“We lost everything in the fire,” he recalled. “I always wanted to help people. I wanted to go to the military, but it seemed like being a firefighter was the next best thing. That’s what inspired me.”

He took and passed all the classes to become a Birmingham firefighter in 2021 and was first assigned to Station 23 in Inglenook. In October he received his paramedic license and was transferred to Station 27 in Roebuck and then Station 19 in East Lake.

Peagler, one of the first graduates of the Birmingham Fire Academy’s in-house paramedic program, said he’s learning as much about the profession as he can to help as many as possible.

As a medic, Peagler said he comes across so many who need help that he plans to pursue a degree in psychology or mental health therapy.

“I see so many mental health issues, the stress that can be put on somebody to make them turn into somebody they shouldn’t be, because they have no help. … I feel like I can be a helping hand in that, be someone they can talk to, to help them get their life back in order.”

“My desire is to be the best of myself … ,” he said. “I want to be the best firefighter I can be, and since EMS is involved, I want to be the best EMS. … I want to be at the top tier in all that I do.”

Not just the best firefighter but also the best fighter during the Police and Fire Games, he said. Going up against other first responders will be fun, but it’s also business, said the medic, as he prepares for the boxing competition that begins June 30 at the Alabama Theatre.

“I’m not trying to hurt them at all … ,” Peagler said. “I’m trying to have fun, but I’m also trying to win.”

The 2025 World Police and Fire Games will host more than 8,500 first responders from nearly 80 countries in 1,600 medal events. Competitors are current and retired public agency personnel from across the globe.