The National Association of State Fire Marshals Fire Research and Education Foundation (NASFM Foundation) and Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Company are pleased to announce 117 fire departments across the United States have earned the Life Safety Achievement Award for their fire prevention accomplishments in 2012. (See list of award-winning departments below.) For over 20 years, this award has recognized fire departments nationally for actively promoting fire prevention in the pursuit of saving lives.
“When we hear the fire truck coming down the street and see its lights, we know firefighters are responding to someone in trouble. What we don’t know is that these unsung heroes are doing a lot of things behind the scenes that save lives,” said Alan Clark, assistant vice president of Special Investigations at Grinnell Mutual. “The Life Safety Achievement Award recognizes fire departments for their fire prevention programs that have been proven to save lives year after year.”
According to the National Fire Protection Association, in 2011, the most recent year for which statistics are available, more than 1.3 million fires were reported in the United States. The fires caused more than 3,000 civilian deaths, 17,500 civilian injuries, and almost $12 billion in property damage.
“These nationwide loss numbers will not go away by themselves,” said President of the NASFM Foundation J. William Degnan. “Sustained effort is required on the part of communities to keep fires from claiming lives. The Life Safety Achievement Award recognizes fire departments for the positive results they achieve in protecting the lives of their citizens and emergency responders from fire.”
To qualify for the award, fire departments must record zero fire deaths in residential structures or a 10 percent reduction of fire deaths from the prior year. In addition, they must demonstrate commitment to prevent residential fires in their local communities through active and effective fire prevention programs. The applicants also must present evidence by some measure (department-determined) that the department’s fire prevention efforts increased over the previous year and made a positive impact.
This year’s award recipients have organized educational programs targeted to specific age groups, such as training for care providers of at-risk populations and juvenile fire-setting intervention programs. They participated in fire safety inspections and home fire safety surveys, emergency evacuation drills, smoke alarm giveaways and installation assistance, the National Gasoline Safety Project “Stop Gas Fires”, and child car seat installation and safety checks. They have provided safety information through open houses, community events, newsletters, YouTube videos, and street boulevard banners, as well as by working with local news stations to provide monthly fire safety video clips. Recipients were also active in increasing fire sprinkler coverage in homes and encouraging the adoption of fire prevention codes that require residential sprinkler systems.
“We are impressed by the variety and creativity of many fire department programs reported by our award winners,” said NASFM Foundation Executive Director Jim Narva.
“We are also seeing more emphasis on residential sprinkler implementation, as well as an increased use of social media to reach audiences, particularly the younger demographic in communities.”
“While funding for fire suppression efforts will always be necessary, spending money and time preventing a fire or significantly reducing its impact is preferable to having to respond after a fire has occurred,” added Narva. “Our Life Safety Achievement Award recipients recognize that and fight for more fire prevention resources every chance they get.”
The 2012 Life Safety Achievement Award recipients named in the summer of 2013 include:
Alabama
Adamsville Fire Department, Adamville
City of Dora Fire Rescue, Dora
Cullman Fire Rescue, Cullman
Springville Fire & Rescue, Springville
Tuscaloosa Fire & Rescue Service, Tuscaloosa
Arizona
Golder Ranch Fire District, Tucson
MCAS Yuma Fire Department, Yuma
California
University of California, Irvine
Connecticut
Cheshire Fire Department, Cheshire
City of Meriden Department of Fire Services, Meriden
East Great Plain Volunteer Fire Co, Norwich
East Haven Fire Department, East Haven
Mansfield Fire Department, Mansfield
Naugatuck Fire Department, Naugatuck
Suffield Fire Department, Suffield
Thomaston Volunteer Fire Department, Thomaston
Tolland Fire Department, Tolland
Town of Woodstock, Office of the Fire Marshal, Woodstock
Florida
Casselberry Fire Rescue, Casselberry
Clermont Fire Department , Clermont
Immokalee Fire Control District, Immokalee
Idaho
Coeur d’Alene Fire Department, Coeur d’Alene
Moscow Volunteer Fire Department, Moscow
Nampa Fire Department, Nampa
Illinois
Countryside Fire Protection District, Vernon Hills
Iowa
Alburnett Fire Department, Alburnett
Bettendorf Fire Rescue, Bettendorf
Clive Fire Department, Clive
Deep River Volunteer Fire Co., Inc., Deep River
Grinnell Fire Department, Grinnell
Le Mars Fire-Rescue, Le Mars
Marion Fire Department, Marion
Spencer Fire Department, Spencer
West Burlington Fire Department, West Burlington
Kansas
Derby Fire & Rescue Department, Derby
Louisiana
Grayson Volunteer Fire Department, Grayson
Massachusetts
Bellingham Fire Department, Bellingham
Bridgewater Fire Department, Bridgewater
Merrimac Fire Department, Merrimac
Oxford Fire-EMS, Oxford
Topsfield Fire Department, Topsfield
Wendell Fire Department, Wendell
West Bridgewater Fire Department, West Bridgewater
Yarmouth Fire Rescue, South Yarmouth
Michigan
Olivet Fire Department, Olivet
Tittabawassee Fire Department, Freeland
Minnesota
Alexandria Fire Department, Alexandria
Brainerd Fire Department, Brainerd
Canby Volunteer Fire Department, Canby
Chaska Fire Department, Chaska
City of Hastings Fire Department, Hastings
Cloquet Area Fire District, Cloquet
Eden Prairie Fire Department, Eden Prairie
Farmington Fire Department, Farmington
Hopkins Fire Department, Hopkins
Kensington Fire Department, Kensington
Lake Henry Fire and Rescue, Lake Henry
Maple Grove Fire-Rescue, Maple Grove
Moorhead Fire Department, Moorhead
Roseville Fire Department, Roseville
Spring Lake Park Fire Department, Spring Lake Park
Waldorf Fire Department, Waldorf
White Bear Lake Fire Department, White Bear Lake
Mississippi
City of Louisville Fire Department, Louisville
Columbus Fire & Rescue, Columbus
Missouri
Battlefield Fire Protection District, Battlefield
Bethany Fire Department, Bethany
Boles Fire Protection District, Labadie
Bolivar City Fire Department, Bolivar
Branson Fire & Rescue, Branson
City of Republic Fire Department, Republic
Columbia Fire Department, Columbia
Eureka Fire Protection District, Eureka
Fort Osage Fire Protection District, Buckner
Roby Fire Department Inc., Roby
Rock Community Fire Department, Arnold
Southern Platte Fire Protection District, Kansas City
Sullivan Fire Protection District, Sullivan
New Hampshire
Hooksett Fire Rescue, Hooksett
Rochester Fire Department, Rochester
Town of Hampstead Fire Department, Hampstead
New Jersey
Pennington Road Fire Company, Ewing
Robertsville Volunteer Fire Co. #1, Morganville
New York
Cobleskill Volunteer Fire Department, Cobleskill
Cold Spring Fire Company No.1, Cold Spring
Harrisville Volunteer Fire Department, Inc., Harrisville
Henrietta Fire District, West Henrietta
North Creek Volunteer Fire Company, Inc., North Creek
Webbs Mills Volunteer Fire Department, Pine City
North Carolina
Boonville Community Fire Department, Boonville
City of Henderson Fire Department, Henderson
City of Mount Airy Fire Department, Mount Airy
City of Newton Fire Department, Newton
Clemmons Fire Department, Inc., Clemmons
Etowah Horse Shoe V.F.R.D., Hendersonville
Icard Township Fire and Rescue, Hildebran
Kannapolis Fire Department, Kannapolis
Richlands Volunteer Fire Department, Richlands
Rockingham Fire Department, Rockingham
St. James Volunteer Fire Department, Lake Waccamaw
Wadesboro Fire Department, Wadesboro
Wentworth Volunteer Fire Department, Wentworth
West Irdell Volunteer Fire Department, Statesville
Williamston Fire / Rescue / EMS, Williamston
Wilson Fire/Rescue Services, Wilson
Ohio
Concord Township Fire Department, Concord Township
South Carolina
Georgetown City Fire Department, Georgetown
Tennessee
Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department, Andersonville
City of Franklin Fire Department, Franklin
Texas
Highland Village Fire Department, Highland Village
Utah
Lehi Fire Department, Lehi
Moab Valley Fire Protection District, Moab
South Jordan City Fire Department, South Jordan
West Valley City Fire , West Valley City
Washington
Marysville Fire District, Marysville
Wisconsin
Hudson Fire Department, Hudson
Sun Prairie Volunteer Fire Department, Sun Prairie
Encourage your local fire department to apply for the Life Safety Achievement Award for its fire prevention efforts in 2013. A list of criteria and an application for the 2013 award will be available on www.grinnellmutual.com in the spring of 2014.
