By FireRescue1 Staff
McLEAN, Va. — The IAFC announced Monday that it is now accepting nominations for the Ben Franklin Award for Valor, honoring a firefighter (or firefighters) for their expert training, professional service and dedication to duty displayed in saving human life.
Deemed the IAFC’s most prestigious award, the program is named for one of the first fire chiefs in the United States, Benjamin Franklin: “An inventor, statesman and humanitarian, Mr. Franklin was a prime contributor to the wealth of tradition that symbolizes the fire and emergency service worldwide,” according to a press release from the IAFC.
All active firefighters, career or volunteer, are eligible for award consideration, whether the event occurred while on or off duty. They need only to be nominated by their fire chief for an incident in which they saved a human life.
An individual or a team of up to four may be nominated. The chief must submit the nomination via this nomination link. The incident must have occurred between April 1, 2021, and Dec. 31, 2022, to qualify for consideration. All nominations are reviewed by a committee of IAFC members.
The 2023 nomination period closes on June 9 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Winner and regret notifications will be issued in July.
The Ben Franklin Award of Valor is presented annually at Fire-Rescue International (FRI) by the IAFC and Motorola Solutions. This year’s winners will be announced Monday, Aug. 14, 2023, and honored on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023, at FRI in Kansas City, Missouri.