Press Release – ‘Firefighters Plus’ from Denmark winner of the first European Fire Safety Award
18th November 2019 – During a well visited Ceremony at the European Parliament, the European Fire Safety Award 2019 for the best community fire safety project was handed over to the Frederiksborg Fire & Rescue Service (Denmark) for their project ‘Firefighters Plus’. The Award Ceremony and the launch of an Exhibition in the Parliament are the start of the very first edition of the European Fire Safety Week, held from the 18th up to 21st November 2019 in Brussels.
The winning project ‘Firefighers Plus’ gives an important impulse to change the focus of firefighters. Firefighters are no longer only fire experts, but prevention experts as well. They do not wait until a fire occurs, but they act in advance to help preventing them. The project ‘Firefighter Plus’ gives a boost in that direction. It offers high-quality training and support to firefighters across the world on how to use their position as role models to promote fire safety among the most vulnerable groups. The project was co-funded by the ERASMUS+ Programme of the European Union and was implemented by an international consortium consisting of seven organisations from six different European countries.
Fire safety improvement
The European Fire Safety Award 2019 is a joined initiative of the European Fire Safety Alliance (EuroFSA) and the Federation of the European Union of Fire Officers Associations (FEU). It is an international competition that gathers the very best examples of duplicable fire safety projects from all over Europe. The submitted projects have been judged by an influential and respected international jury – the members of the Board of the FEU – and have been assessed on: raising fire safety awareness, changing human behavior and inspiring education on fire safety. Based on these characteristics, three projects have been rated as very valuable and of high importance to fire safety improvement:
- Firefighters Plus, submitted by the Frederiksborg Fire & Rescue Service, Denmark
- Safe at Home, submitted by the Fire Region Noord-en Oost-Gelderland,
The Netherlands - Safe.FireBrigade, submitted by the Austrian Fire Brigade Association, Austria
The projects ‘Safe at Home’ and ‘Together.Safe.FireBrigade’ received an Certificate of Recognition.
First European Fire Safety Week
The Award Ceremony is the start of very first European Fire Safety Week. During the week we will meet up to share best practices, research and recommendations on fire safety at national and EU level. To reduce fires in Europe we propose, based on the findings of the European Fire Safety Week 2019, an EU action plan, based on best practices, research and recommendations! This final document will be presented to MEPs and European Commission officials on the Fire Safety Future meeting, that is going to be held at the beginning of 2020. More information on: www.firesafetyweek.eu
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About EuroFSA:
The European Fire Safety Alliance (EuroFSA) shares national knowledge and innovations on international level. We form an independent alliance of fire professionals and preventions specialists that does not support any individual fire safety product, technology or commercial organization. EuroFSA is an authority on fire risk, based on a strong statistical evidence. We do research, support and encourage research, studies and reports that highlight the dangers from fire in the home and support their widespread availability. We focus on sharing knowledge and we deliver strong scientific relevant consistent messages on home fire safety.
www.europeanfiresafetyalliance.org
Press Contact:
Elie Van Strien
Phone number +31 62 24 36 934
Email address [email protected]
Partners of the European Fire Safety Week:
Federation of the European Union Fire Officers Associations (FEU) – Dutch Fire Service Academy (IFV) – Dutch Burns Foundation – European Fire Safety Alliance – Organisation for Burns Scar Aftercare and Research (OSCARE) – Antwerp Fire Service – Flame Retardants Europe (FRE) – Modern Building Alliance (MBA) – Europacable – European Aluminium – Council of Gas Detection and Environmental Protection (COgDEM) – European Copper Institute – European Fire Sprinkler Network – European Association of Electrical Contractors (AIE) – International Federation for the Safety of Electricity Users (Fisuel) – European Committee of Electrical Installation Equipment Manufacturers (CECAPI).