ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 12 // -- One may be hard-pressed to come up with a better icon of selflessness than a firefighter. After all, who else would rush into a burning building to save the life of someone he or she has never met? Who else, day after day, would speak to classrooms of children about life-saving fire safety lessons, and never grow tired knowing that one of those children's lives someday may be saved because of what he or she taught them?
In honor of exemplary acts of selflessness, Liberty Mutual today salutes four firefighters and one fire inspector who personify heroism and community service with the 2007 Liberty Mutual National Firemark Awards. The award ceremony takes place at the Firehouse Central Conference and Exposition in Orlando.
"This year's awards recognize two inspirational stories of firefighting -- unique in approach, but united in purpose," said Lisa Paige, director of Community Marketing at Liberty Mutual. "Every day, firefighters across America contribute to our safety through their courage and their innovation. The Liberty Mutual Firemark Awards exist to shine the light on a few of the tremendous acts that are a symbol of firefighters' selflessness that takes place every day in every community across the country."
Liberty Mutual National Firemark Award Winners
The recipients of the 2007 Liberty Mutual National Firemark Award for Heroism are three firefighters from the Buffalo (N.Y.) Fire Department (IAFF Local 282) -- Captain Stephen Keohane, Lieutenant Daniel O'Leary, and Firefighter James Gatta, Jr. -- for their actions in the early morning hours of November 28, 2006, when they saved the lives of a mother and her two infant children who were trapped in a their burning apartment from a senseless act of arson. Amid intense flames and smoke, and the danger of a potentially collapsing floor, the three firefighters searched for and located the children and their unconscious mother and rushed them all to safety.
The 2007 Liberty Mutual National Firemark Award for Community Service and Public Education winners are Fire Inspector Richard Ciarrone from the Parma, Ohio, Fire Department (IAFF Local 639) and Assistant Fire Chief John Desmarteau from the Middleburg Heights, Ohio, Fire Department (IAFF Local 2018). In the aftermath of a home fire tragedy that took the lives of two local children in 1992, Ciarrone and Desmarteau spearheaded a four-city initiative that acquired and renovated a rundown house in Parma to create a community educational facility. Now 10 years old, more than 1,400 children annually visit the Parma Regional Fire Safety House to participate in the interactive fire safety training and education.
This year's National Firemark Award winners -- who were selected from among dozens of nominees who received local Firemark Awards over the past year from Liberty Mutual offices around the country -- were chosen by a committee comprised of numerous fire safety organizations, including the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the National Volunteer Fire Council, the National Fire Protection Association, the National Association of State Fire Marshals, the Society of Fire Protection Engineers, and Underwriters Laboratories, Inc.
Each National Firemark Award includes a $10,000 grant from Liberty Mutual -- one for the Buffalo Firefighters Guardian Fund to acquire unbudgeted personal safety equipment for firefighters and the fire houses; and one to further the educational resources of the Parma Regional Fire Safety House. The individual winners also receive an all-expense paid trip to Liberty Mutual's "Where's the Fire?"(TM) exhibit at INNOVENTIONS at Epcot(R) at the Walt Disney World(R) Resort in Florida.
"Where's the Fire?" -- a 4,000-plus square-foot exhibit designed by Walt Disney Imagineering, Liberty Mutual, and the U.S. Fire Administration, is the nation's largest interactive fire safety education experience. "Where's the Fire?" features an interactive game that challenges guests to investigate a house for common -- and uncommon -- home fire hazards using a technologically unique "safety light." Younger children especially enjoy the smaller-scale "Play It Safe" house where they learn what to do, should a fire occur in their home. A rapid-response "Burning Questions" quiz on touch-screen kiosks and the "Badges of Honor" tribute to the fire service alongside a fully equipped 40-foot pumper are additional elements of the "Where's the Fire?" exhibit.
In addition to the Firemark Award program, Liberty Mutual will support our nation's firefighters by launching the following initiatives during Fire Safety Month, taking place throughout October:
"Be Fire Smart" Video Now Available
Liberty Mutual this month announced the availability of a free, entertaining fire safety video, "Be Fire Smart," for families to view together and facilitate open discussion about fire safety in their home. Academy Award-winning actress Marcia Gay Harden teamed with Liberty Mutual to create the video, available for viewing online at http://www.befiresmart.com or distributed for free by more than 400 local Liberty Mutual offices around the country.
Setting the film apart is the use of Liberty Mutual's "Where's the Fire?" fire safety exhibit at INNOVENTIONS at Epcot(R) as a "classroom" throughout the video. The Be Fire Smart video brings the fun of "Where's the Fire?" into the home, providing parents with a wonderful guide to open the discussion of fire safety, especially for young children ages 6-10. Children age five and under are twice as likely to die in a fire as the rest of the population, according to the National Fire Protection Association.
New Interactive Game on BeFireSmart.com
Liberty Mutual also launched this week a new interactive game at http://www.BeFireSmart.com that allows parents and children to evaluate, create or improve their home fire escape plans. This intuitive exercise looks at every step of a family's escape route -- taking into account such factors as a home's architectural layout and placement of smoke alarms -- and gives suggestions on how to make escape plans faster and safer.
Liberty Mutual launched http://www.BeFireSmart.com in October 2006 as an educational fire safety and prevention website for parents, children, educators and firefighters. The site includes safety resources, lesson plans, and interactive games, including "Operation FireSmart," where players race to uncover hidden fire hazards inside a simulated house, and "Dress Firefighter Frank" to familiarize children with firefighter equipment so they will be less likely to hide for their rescuers during a home fire.
About Liberty Mutual Group
Liberty Mutual Group (http://www.libertymutual.com) is a leading multi-line insurer in the U.S. whose largest line of business is personal auto based on 2006 direct written premium. A top ten provider of auto and home insurance to individuals, Liberty Mutual is an industry leader in affinity partnerships, offering its personal lines products to employees and members of more than 10,000 companies, credit unions, and alumni and professional associations. Liberty Mutual Group ranks 95th on the Fortune 500 list of largest corporations in the United States. The company, headquartered in Boston, Mass., employs over 39,000 people in more than 900 offices throughout the world.
About The Liberty Mutual Firemark Award
Liberty Mutual introduced the Firemark Award in 1986 as a local honor meant to recognize firefighters throughout the country who best represent their communities through valor and selfless spirit. The award takes its name from the Firemark, a leaden plate designed in the form of a Phoenix rising from the ashes, which American fire offices in the 18th and 19th centuries used to mark all the houses they insured. The Firemark stood as a guarantee to all fire brigades that the insurance company that insured the house in question would reward handsomely the brigade extinguishing a fire on the premises. In 2005, Liberty Mutual elevated the award to a national level, recognizing significant achievements among its local award-winners.
To nominate a firefighter for a Liberty Mutual Firemark Award or for life- saving tips and resources, visit http://www.befiresmart.com.
Press Contacts:
Glenn Greenberg
617-574-5874
glenn.greenberg@libertymutual.com
John Cusolito
617-574-5512
john.cusolito@libertymutual.com
