The team was led by head coach Chan Gailey, and played their home games at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama.
With former Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Chan Gailey selected as head coach, the league held its inaugural draft in February 1991.
Although they finished with a record of only 5–5, the Fire qualified for the playoffs as the better of the two mediocre North America division champions, having beaten the 5-5 Knights who had to face the mighty 9-1 London Monarchs.
In their WLAF semifinal, Birmingham lost 10-3 to wild card winner Barcelona Dragons; their 8-2 record was only good enough for 2nd in Europe behind London even after having beaten the Monarchs at Wembley.
[1][2] At the time of the announcement, league president Tex Schramm said that past support for professional football in Birmingham was a major reason for its selection for a franchise.
[3] At that time it was also revealed that Birmingham would compete as a member of the North American West division with the Sacramento Surge and the San Antonio Riders.
[5] Players assigned through this program to the Fire were Pepe Moscatelli and Sergio Vissa from Italy and Andreas Motzkus and Hans-Ulrich Riecke from Germany.
In the second quarter, a bad snap that went over the head of Fire punter Kirk Maggio gave the Machine possession at the Birmingham 17-yard line.
[13][14] In the fourth, Birmingham scored first on a 35-yard field goal by Win Lyle and then were later awarded a safety after Montreal's Kevin Sweeney called for intentional grounding in the end zone to cut the lead to 13–5.
[13] Due to the larger than expected crowd, the start of the game was delayed 21 minutes to allow fans into the stadium as only two gates were open at Legion Field.
With a first-and-goal from the Fire two-yard line, Elkins threw four incomplete passes to turn the ball over on downs with 1:13 left in the game.
The first came on the first offensive play of the game when Shelton recovered a Joe Henderson fumble caused by Adam Bob and returned it 26-yards for a 7–0 lead.
[18][19] About five minutes later, Shelton intercepted a Brent Pease pass and returned it for a touchdown and a 13–0 lead after Björn Nittmo missed the extra point.
[18][19] Birmingham responded in the second quarter with a 55-yard Pease touchdown pass to Stacey Mobley and a 20-yard Win Lyle field goal to cut the Montreal lead to 13–10.
[21][22] The Monarchs took a 10–0 lead into halftime after David Smith scored on a six-yard touchdown run in the first and Phil Alexander connected on a 27-yard field goal in the second quarter.
[25][26] On the San Antonio possession that followed, Riders long snapper Eddie Grant snapped the ball over the head of punter Kent Sullivan out of the back of the end zone for a safety and a 9–0 Fire lead.
[25][26] With 1:30 remaining in the game, John Holland intercepted a Johnson pass; however, San Antonio held the Fire to force a punt.
[27][28] The Dragons scored their first points on the first offensive play of the game when Eric Lindstrom tackled Elroy Harris in the endzone for a safety and a 2–0 lead.
[30][31] Birmingham took a 10–0 lead into halftime after Arthur Hunter intercepted a Jeff Graham pass and returned it 37-yards for a touchdown in the first and Win Lyle converted a 20-yard field goal in the second quarter.
[30][31] In the third quarter, the Fire extended their lead to 17–0 after a successful fake punt resulted in a touchdown when Kirk Maggio threw a 65-yard pass to Kenny Bell.
[30] However, the comeback was halted late in the fourth after Steve Hyche caused a Jeff Graham fumble that was returned 35-yards for a touchdown by Tony Bowick.
In their final regular season game, the Fire defeated the Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks 28–7 at Carter–Finley Stadium to clinch a playoff spot as the North America West division champions.
Massimo Manca converted a successful 25-yard field goal and Scott Erney threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Thomas Woods for a 10–0 lead.