TheNational Fire Protection Association(NFPA) announced it has receiveda $5,000 fire prevention grant fromFM Global, one of the world's largest commercial property insurers, to support scholarships for public and fire service participation at NFPA'sBackyards & Beyond Wildland Fire Education Conference, being held in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, October 22 ' 24, 2015.
FM Global representatives presented the award to Michele Steinberg, NFPA's Wildland Fire Operations Division manager at NFPA Headquarters in Quincy, Mass, yesterday. While conference registration is open to all, members of the fire service and homeowners at risk from wildfire are often unable to participate due to limited budgets for such educational opportunities. The grant from FM Global enables NFPA to provide homeowners and fire service professionals in high-risk areas the chance to join the wildfire discussion with industry experts and peers, exchange valuable information, and share lessons learned.
The grant will support up to eight scholarships to the conference.
'At FM Global, we strongly believe the majority of property damage is preventable, not inevitable,' said Michael Spaziani, manager of the fire prevention grant program. 'Far too often, inadequate budgets prevent those organizations working to prevent fire from being as proactive as they would like to be. With additional financial support, grant recipients are actively helping to improve property risk in the communities they serve.'
The Backyards & Beyond conference brings together leading wildland fire experts, community leaders, researchers, insurance professionals, emergency responders, homeowners and others involved in wildfire safety and preparedness to share knowledge and best practices on key wildfire issues that they can then take back to their communities and start implementing immediately.
'NFPA values the contributions that residents and fire service professionals make to the Backyards & Beyond conference,' said Michele Steinberg, NFPA's Wildland Fire Operations Division manager. 'We are grateful to FM Global for providing this scholarship opportunity to homeowners and firefighters, who would otherwise not be able to attend, and join other wildfire stakeholders in an effort to make our communities safer places to live.'
Through its Fire Prevention Grant Program, FM Global awards grant money quarterly to fire departments—as well as national, state, regional, local and community organisations worldwide—that best demonstrate a need for funding where dollars can have the most demonstrable impact on preventing fire or mitigating damage.
Because fire continues to be the leading cause of property damage worldwide, over the past 35 years FM Global has contributed millions of dollars in fire prevention grants to fire service organizations around the globe.
To learn more about FM Global's Fire Prevention Grant Program, or to apply for a grant, please visit www.fmglobal.com/grants.
