|
Home > About > Awards Program > Benjamin Franklin Fire Service Award for Valor
Benjamin Franklin Fire Service Award for Valor
|
2009 Award for Valor
Miami-Dade Firefighter Honored
for Dramatic Marina Rescue
On an early spring morning, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded to a call reporting a fire at the Miami Beach Marina. Heavy flames were engulfing two yachts, with radiant heat and smoke threatening a third. As MDFR Fireboat 1 began its water assault on the side of the vessels, screams were heard from one of the yachts. Moving toward its bow, the crew was stunned to see hands frantically signaling from a porthole.
2008 Award for Valor
Watertown Firefighters Awarded
Highest Honor for Saving Lives
in a Devastating Structure Fire
Early in the morning of December 8, the City of Watertown Fire Rescue Department responded to a downtown structure fire. Significant flames and heavy black smoke were boiling up from the third floor of a four-story building, home to nearly 40 residents in 30 apartments. The fire alarm system was not operating and no one knew how many people had evacuated.
2007 Award for Valor
Colorado Springs Fire Department Rescues 85
On a frigid January night, the members of the Colorado Springs Fire Department experienced one of the most dangerous and devastating fires of its history. Not long after midnight, a call came in for a structure fire at the Castle West Apartments. Within seconds, many more calls began pouring in from both occupants trapped by the fire and witnesses outside.
2006 Award for Valor
During Their Own 9/11, Team Rota
Saved 28 Spanish Citizens
from a Raging Fire
On September 11, 2005, just before 6 am, Spanish police frantically contacted Naval Station Rota Fire Department to expedite a response with police escort to a residential fire in the city of Rota; this response would be anything but routine. The assistant fire chief, one fully staffed structural apparatus and a water tender responded directly to the scene. They discovered a surreal and desperate situation: a raging fire in a multi-story residential complex with families trapped inside! |
Download the Award for Valor nomination form.
This award, the IAFC's most prestigious, recognizes the spirit of service, courage and heroism that is a tradition among the world's fire and emergency service. 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.
Presented annually at Fire-Rescue International by the IAFC and Motorola, the award honors a firefighter for his or her expert training, professional service and dedication to the duty displayed in saving a human life. But the program is much more that that: It serves as a key tool in continuously developing public knowledge and support for the fire and emergency service in general.
All active firefighters—career or volunteer, whether on or off-duty—are eligible for award consideration. They need only to be nominated by their chief for an incident in which they saved a human life.
The chief must submit all pertinent details and the nomination form to the program coordinator. The award winner and his or her department chief are treated to a VIP weekend at the conference. The recipient's chief is also presented with the Benjamin Franklin Departmental Award for Leadership.
The nomination period opens every year on January 15 and closes on or about June 1. Nominations must be submitted on the nomination form, with supplemental information included in the original submittal.
The 2010 nomination deadline is Tuesday, June 1; nominations must be received at the IAFC headquarters by this date to be considered.
Please return completed and signed nominations to:
- By email:
- By mail:
- Awards Coordinator, IAFC
Ben Franklin Award for Valor
4025 Fair Ridge Drive
Fairfax, VA 22033
For more information, contact the Award for Valor program coordinator at awards@iafc.org or 703-537-4807.
|
