BANGOR, Maine — Bangor may compete for the rights to host the first responders equivalent of the Olympic Games in 2020.

The Can-Am Police-Fire Games are a biennial event, held in even years, that bring hundreds of international competitors and their families to the host cities for 10 days sometime between June and September.

The games are open to participants from any country, but mostly draw first responders from North America. Host cities are selected five years in advance. The Greater Bangor Convention and Visitors Bureau wants to bring the event to Bangor and Orono.

“It’s a big piece of business that’s going to take a lot of work, a lot of time, and a lot of sponsorships,” Kerri Tripp, CVB’s executive director, told Bangor’s Business and Economic Development Committee during a Tuesday night meeting.

Part of the requirement for bringing games to a city is leveraging the support of municipal police and fire chiefs and other city leadership, according to the Can-Am Games request for proposals documents.

The committee gave its initial support to move forward with the application, but asked that city attorneys gather more information about the legal and financial obligations if the city were to host such an event before the application is sent out.

“This is the kind of event that’s the pot of gold at the end of the CVB rainbow,” Councilor Gibran Graham said.

The Can-Am Police-Fire Games started out in 1977 in Washington state. For the first few decades, the event stuck mostly to the Northwestern United States, hopping the border to Western Canadian provinces on occasion. More recently, the event has spread to other parts of the countries, including the 2006 games in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which were canceled because of Hurricane Katrina.

Today, there are more than 40 sporting events, ranging from pistol shooting and “Toughest Firefighter Alive” to golf and softball. It typically draws 550-700 participants, with the locations closest to the Canadian-American border drawing the largest crowds.

This year, the event was held in York, Pennsylvania, a community that estimated the economic impact of the weeklong event at about $1 million, according to Tripp, who recently spoke with officials there.

In 2016, its host will be Thunder Bay, Ontario, followed in 2018 by Hampton Roads, Virginia, which is the farthest away from the Canadian border the games have been held.

The CVB will have to prove to the Can-Am group that it can secure enough sponsorships and other funding to host the event, bring in a large volunteer network, create a detailed budget, prove it has the facilities necessary to host large sporting events and to house competitors, judges and organizers, according to the rules of the Can-Am Police-Fire Games Federation Organization.

Tripp said the city’s financial obligation would be minimal, but that the CVB might reach out for a sponsorship, donation or in-kind contribution of services, like EMTs or police staffing. CVB would shoulder the bulk of the financial and organizational obligations, she assured the committee.

The requirements for sports facilities likely means Orono and and the University of Maine will need to be brought into the mix to host some of the competitions.

Tripp said the CVB would offer to host the games in June to avoid too much overlap with other summer concerts, festivals and events that will eat up hotel space. If June doesn’t work, the group likely wouldn’t proceed any further in the process.

The CVB would hold the bulk of responsibility for the event, reaching out to city staff for support or assistance on occasion, Tripp said. The first major financial piece would be securing an “event rights fee” of $25,000, paid to the games organization if the city is awarded the rights to host. Tripp said the CVB would have to rely heavily on courting sponsorships to finance the event, a process that would have to start prior to applying to host the games.

The CVB will have to submit a letter by Jan. 18, 2015, stating their intent to submit a final proposal by April 5, 2015.

Follow Nick McCrea on Twitter @nmccrea213.