National Fire Protection Association Blog

"Be Rabbit Ready" wins a 2013 Remi Award

NFPA’s fire safety video, “Be Rabbit Ready: Have Two Ways Out!” has won a 2013 Bronze Remi Award from the Worldfest-Houston International Film Festival. The video competed in the Safety/ First Aid category.

Included in the DVD are Sparky the Fire Dog’s various efforts to encourage fire safety in kids. A list of things that rabbits are truly terrible at is contrasted with their consistent two ways out. Conversations with kids on the street and a music video round out this silly and serious 10-minute film. A young girl even breaks out her family’s fire escape plan on her iPad.

Enjoy the clip from the video below.

 

Four fire officers are Harvard University fellowship recipients

Each year, NFPA partners with U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), and the International Fire Service Training Association (IFSTA) to sponsor senior fire officer fellowships to the Harvard University Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program.

This program lasts for three weeks in the summer on Harvard University’s Cambridge Mass. campus. It aims to ensure public officials are well-equipped to be effective public leaders. In- and out-of-classroom learning experiences help further this goal.

Congratulations to the 2013 awardees!

• Joel Baker, Deputy Chief, City of Atlanta Fire-Rescue Department
• Phil Eagleson, Chief, Saugeen Shores Fire Department, Port Elgin, Ontario, Canada
• Michael Romas, Assistant Chief, Milwaukee Fire Department
• Derrick Sawyer, Deputy Chief, City of Philadelphia Fire Department

2013 Metro Award winners

The 2013 annual Metropolitan (Metro) Fire Chiefs Association conference, in Phoenix, took place April 5-11. Along with naming board members, the Metro Chiefs bestowed the 2013 Metro awards.

 

2013 Metropolitan Fire Chief’s award winners: CFO Peter Holland (Left); Chief Keith Richter

Congratulations to all the recipients!

• Chief Keith Richter, of the Orange County, California, Fire Authority was named Fire Chief of the Year;
• Chief Peter Holland, Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser, UK Government, received the Lifetime Achievement Award; and,
• Vicki Lee, Program Manager, International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC); Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell, Assistant to the General President of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF); and Dr. Denis Onieal, Superintendent of the National Fire Academy received the President’s Award of Distinction.

Tom Lia named recipient of Fire Sprinkler Initiative's first Home Fire Sprinkler Champion Award

Tom Lia, executive director of the Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board, has been named the recipient of the Fire Sprinkler Initiative’s first Home Fire Sprinkler Champion Award. The award, which was given at the Bringing Safety Home Sprinkler Summit on Monday, April 15, commends Lia for his dedication to increasing the presence of sprinklers in residences.

“Tom is a terrific example of what this effort is – passionate, driven individuals working all across the country to save lives and property from fire with the proven, effective technology of fire sprinklers,” said NFPA President Jim Shannon. “As a result of his leadership, hard work and dedication, more than 80 communities in Illinois have adopted NFPA 13D single-family home fire sprinkler ordinances.”

Lia has participated in more than 325 side-by-side fire sprinkler demonstrations. His model served as the basis for the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition’s Fire and Sprinkler Burn Demonstration kit. As a result of Lia’s commitment to the fire sprinkler cause, thousands of fire departments around the country have implemented this tool in their own communities.

Read more about Tom and this award in the full press release. Congratulations Tom! 

Metro Chiefs annual conference in Phoenix

Metro Fire Chiefs Executive Board at the Phoenix Biltmore Hotel

 

The 2013 annual Metropolitan (Metro) Fire Chiefs Association conference took place in Phoenix, Arizona, April 5-11. About 110 Metro chiefs from Canada, China, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States attended. They elected new officers and board members, along with bestowing the 2013 Metro Awards.

The conference’s educational program included an update on the national drug shortage, an overview of the National Fallen Fire Fighters behavioral health and vulnerability study, a presentation on social media, as well as progress reports from the First Responder Network Authority Board (FirstNet), Underwriters Laboratories, among others.

The 2014 Metro conference will be in Baltimore, Maryland, May 31-June 5 at the Marriott Inner Harbor at Camden Yards.

Read the press release for more information and a full list of appointees and honorees.

Tracy Koslowski of Arizona, an innovator in public education, is chosen as Educator of the Year

Tracy Koslowski, public education/information
manager and fire marshal for the Drexel Heights Fire District in Tucson, Arizona, has been named the 2013 Fire and Life Safety Educator of the Year.

A third generation firefighter, Koslowski began
using NFPA’s Learn Not to Burn Preschool Program in 1993 when she was a volunteer at the Tucson Fire Department. She continues to teach it. She has also taught Risk Watch and Remembering When for many years and has expanded Fire Prevention Week in Tucson into Fire Prevention Month. During the past 10 years, she has taken the campaign to all of the schools in the district, visiting more than
40,000 students.

In response to safety concerns in the community, Koslowski implemented a babysitter training course, which teaches kitchen safety, fire safety, CPR, first aid, poison  prevention, and other life safety skills. In addition, she developed the Fire Fit Cadet Program, which includes basic firefighting skills, fire and life safety training, physical fitness, and nutrition classes. Drawing guidance from NFPA’s Remembering When program, Koslowski created the Senior Citizen Fire Academy. She also created the Public Education Volunteer Team to keep the district’s public education programs operating in the face of budget constraints.

Koslowski will receive a $1,000 honorarium and will be flown to Chicago in June for an award presentation at the Opening General Session of the annual NFPA Conference & Expo. Drexel Heights Fire District will receive a $1,000 donation to support public education activities.

NFPA awards 2013 Jensen Grant to Springfield Fire Department of Massachusetts

Springfield Fire Department from Springfield, Massachusetts, is the winner of the 2013 Rolf H.Jensen Memorial Public Education Grant. The $5,000 grant will support the department’s “Multi-Language Public Education Fire Safety Initiative”concentrating on Springfield’s growing population of Somali, Russian, Nepali,Vietnamese, and Latino immigrants. The initiative will also reach out to residents over the age of 65.

Springfield has experienced a sharp decline in industry, jobs, and population over the past few decades and has one of the highest rates of concentrated poverty in the United States. In 2010, 88 percent of building fires took place in residential properties, with unattended cooking or unsafe cooking practices accounting for 61 percent. English is spoken as a second language in 34 percent of households, compared with 21 percent statewide.

Fire safety programs will be conducted primarily at cultural and community centers. The program will be evaluated using a three-part approach: a before-and-after comparison of volume of emergency responses, instructor evaluations, and a10-question survey completed by residents.

Rajesh Melkote honored at Research Foundation symposium in Orlando

Amanda Kimball of the Fire Protection Research Foundation presents the William M. Carey Award to Rajesh Melkote.

Rajesh Melkote of United Technologies was honored this morning in Orlando for having the best presentation in the suppression portion of the Research Foundation’s 2012 symposium.

Mr. Melkote, who spoke last March on “Next Generation Fluorine-Free Firefighting Foams” during the Foundation’s SUPDET event, received the William M. Carey Award.  His paper was chosen based on a vote by symposium participants.

Mr. Carey, a former senior staff engineer at Underwriters Laboratories, Inc., participated in many Foundation fire suppression projects, including the first: The National Quick Response Sprinkler Project. Throughout his career, he was often known for being "the bridge" between research and application of new fire safety knowledge.

John Bullough honored at Research Foundation symposium in Orlando

John Bullough of the Lighting Research Center, RPI, receives the Ronald K. Mengel award from Amanda Kimball of the Fire Protection Research Foundation.

John Bullough of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Lighting Research Center, was honored this morning in Orlando for having the best presentation in the detection portion of the Research Foundation’s 2012 symposium.

Mr. Bullough, who spoke last March on the “Characteristics of Light-Emitting Diode Sources: Relevance for Visual Signal Detection” during the Foundation’s SupDet event, received the Ronald K. Mengel Award.

The award, voted on by last year’s SupDet participants, was named in honor of Mr. Mengel who was a significant industry contributor to research in support of NFPA detection and signaling codes and standards.

Mr. Bullough will present another paper later today at the Research Foundation’s 17th annual Suppression, Detection and Signaling Research and Applications symposium (SupDet) here in Orlando. He will be speaking on the “Influence of Visual Signal Flash Intensity and Duration of Perception”. Mr. Bullough has been studying LEDs as emergency signaling lighting, specifically, the intensity of the light and the duration of the light bursts, and how those impact their effectiveness.

NFPA’s Fred Durso recently talked with Mr. Bullough about his research.

Related content: Fire Protection Research Foundation report - "Performance Objectives for Light Sources Used in Emergency Notification Appliances", J.D. Bullough, Y. Zhu, Lighting Research Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, May 2012

NFPA offers scholarships for fire protection engineering, fire science, fire service, and public administration program students

NFPA offers a number of scholarships for students, but you have to act fast - the deadline for each of the following scholarships is April 1, 2013.

Arthur E. Cote Scholarship
Who is eligible: Undergraduate students enrolled in fire protection engineering programs in the United States or Canada.

Distribution: There will be a minimum of one scholarship awarded per year of at least $5,000.

About Mr. Cote: Arthur Cote dedicated his career to the fire protection engineering community and is well known nationally and internationally. He is recognized as one of the leading authorities in fire sprinkler protection and technology. Prior to his retirement, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Engineer at the NFPA, overseeing ten operating divisions.

Learn more, apply for the Cote Scholarship.

David B. Gratz Scholarship

Who is eligible: Graduate students enrolled in fire science or fire engineering programs outside of the United States.

Distribution: There will be a minimum of one scholarship awarded per year of at least $5,000.

About Mr. Gratz: Chief Gratz entered the fire service as a volunteer with the Silver Spring, MD, Fire Department in 1949. He became the first career Chief of the department in 1961 and served in that capacity until 1973 when he became the first Director of the Montgomery County, MD, Department of Fire and Rescue Services. He led NFPA's International Operations division for 22 years until his death in 1998.

Learn more, apply for the Gratz Scholarship.

John L. Jablonsky Scholarship

Who is eligible: Graduate students enrolled in fire protection engineering programs in the United States or Canada.

Distribution: There will be a minimum of one scholarship awarded per year of at least $5,000.

About Mr. Jablonsky: A person of unshakable integrity, John L. Jablonsky possessed a rare touch of fair play and justice and was quick to stand up for his convictions. He served for over thirty years in numerous capacities for the NFPA. In 1987, he received the Association's highest honor, the Paul C. Lamb Award and, at the time of his death, was chairman of the Standards Council.

Learn more, apply for the Jablonsky Scholarship.

George D. Miller Scholarship
Who is eligible: Undergraduate or graduate students enrolled in fire service or public administration programs in the United States or Canada.

Distribution: There will be a minimum of one scholarship awarded per year of at least $5,000.

About Mr. Miller: George D. Miller, a retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General whose military career included critical command responsibility and a superb record as a fighter pilot, was appointed president and chief executive officer of NFPA in 1992. Upon his retirement in 2002, NFPA's board of directors unveiled the George D. Miller Scholarship in tribute to Mr. Miller's exemplary service to the Association.

Learn more, apply for the Miller Scholarship.

See a full list of scholarships, awards, and grants offered by NFPA.