January 9, 2013 – The National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) Fire Safety Educational Memorial Fund Committee has selected the Austin Fire Department Hazardous Materials Response Team from Austin, Texas, as the recipient of the 2013 Warren E. Isman Educational Grant.
“The Austin Hazardous Materials Response Team has demonstrated careful and effective methods and mitigation strategies in protecting their jurisdiction from hazardous material threats,” said Ken Isman, chair of the Warren E. Isman Task Force. “We are encouraged by their efforts and pleased to help them achieve further hazmat safety tasks and goals.”
Grant recipients select a conference where they can attend specialized hazardous materials training and education sessions. The selected team has the opportunity to gain knowledge and enhance their ability to excel in this specialized field. The 2013 award will allow the Austin Fire Department Hazardous Materials Response Team to attend the IAFC International Hazardous Materials Response Teams Conference taking place in Baltimore in June 2013. The Austin Fire Department Hazardous Materials Response Team is comprised of 92 technicians staffing three stations. Their jurisdiction consists of 820,000 residents and in 2011, they responded to over 1,700 hazmat-related incidents.
The award is available to any established incident response team from a fire department, police department or other public-funded program. Qualified applicants are evaluated on leadership qualities, communication abilities, and must have been trained in accordance with NFPA 472, Standard for Competence of Responders to Hazardous Materials/Weapons of Mass Destruction Incidents, and NFPA 473, Standard for Competencies for EMS Personnel Responding to Hazardous Materials/Weapons of Mass Destruction Incidents. The closing date for 2014 applications is September 15, 2013.
The Warren E. Isman Educational Grant has been sponsored by the NFPA since 1993. It was established in 1991 by the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) following Isman’s untimely death. In addition to serving in fire departments in Long Beach, N.Y. and Rockville, Md., Isman spent several years as a Senior Instructor for the University of Maryland Fire Service Extension Program. Isman became Fire Chief in Fairfax, Va. in 1983. He served as Chair of the NFPA Technical Committee on Hazardous
Materials Response Personnel and as Chair of the IAFC Committee on Hazardous Materials, holding a number of offices on the IAFC Board of Directors, including President from 1987 to 1988.
For more information regarding the application process, contact Christine Ellis at +1 617 984-7244.
About the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
NFPA is a worldwide leader in fire, electrical, building, and life safety. The mission of the international nonprofit organization founded in 1896 is to reduce the worldwide burden of fire and other hazards on the quality of life by providing and advocating consensus codes and standards, research, training, and education. NFPA develops more than 300 codes and standards to minimize the possibility and effects of fire and other hazards. All NFPA codes and standards can be viewed at no cost at www.nfpa.org/freeaccess.