The National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) Fire Safety Educational Memorial Fund Committee has selected the hazard materials team from the Watertown Fire Department, New York as the recipient of the 2007 Warren E. Isman Grant.
Award recipients select a conference where they will have access to specialized hazard materials education and training to enhance their ability to excel in their position. Funds from the 2007 Isman Grant will make it possible for five members of the Watertown Fire Department Haz-Mat Team to attend the 2007 International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) Haz-Mat Conference, in Hunt Valley, Maryland, May 31-June 3.
“This team demonstrated their ongoing commitment in their community to hazardous materials training and safety,” said Ken Isman, chair of the Warren Isman Task Group, the NFPA Scholarship Committee and son of the late Warren Isman. “They are very honored to have been chosen and to have the ability to share their experiences with the team members unable to attend.”
The $5000 grant 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, Professional Competence of Responders to Hazardous Materials Incidents, and NFPA 473, Competencies for EMS Personnel Responding to Hazardous Materials Incidents.
Established by the International Association of Fire Chiefs following Isman’s death in 1991, the Grant honors a man who was known to value training and education. He was the former fire chief in Fairfax County, Virginia, a senior instructor for the University of Maryland Fire Service Extension Program and author of three fire-related textbooks. Isman served on the IAFC board of directors and was chair of both NFPA’s Technical Committee on Hazardous Materials Response Personnel and IAFC’s Committee on Hazardous Materials.
NFPA’s Fire Safety Educational Memorial Fund was established in 1992. Upon request of IAFC, NFPA assumed administrative responsibilities of the Isman Grant in 1993. To make a contribution to the Fire Safety Educational Memorial Fund or for more information regarding the application process visit NFPA’s Web site at www.nfpa.org or contact Christine Ellis at 617-984-7244 or cellis@nfpa.org.
NFPA has been a worldwide leader in providing fire, electrical, building, and life safety to the public since 1896. The mission of the international nonprofit organization 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. Visit NFPA’s Web site at www.nfpa.org.