Brokers receive recognition for fire safety efforts

Ontario’s fire marshal is bestowing an award to the Grey Bruce Insurance Brokers Association (GBIBA) for the association’s longstanding support of a local firefighters’ fire safety radio campaign. 

 

The GBIBA will receive a Fire Safety Award from the Fire Marshal's Public Fire Safety Council at a ceremony on June 12, 2013 in Toronto. The annual Fire Safety Awards recognize outstanding contributions to fire protection and prevention in Ontario.

 

Insurance brokers have been working with 27 local fire departments since 2008 to develop and deliver a year-round radio campaign providing fire safety messages to the 170,000 residents of Grey and Bruce counties.  

 

In the radio spots, individual fire chiefs and fire prevention officers use scripts developed by the Office of the Fire Marshal. The 30-second public service announcements targeted common fire safety issues such as, ‘Stand by Your Pan’ and ‘Working Smoke Alarms: It's the Law!’

 

“A lot of times fire departments will just put out an advertisement during Christmas or special times, and I said, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice to have a year-round campaign, so the fire safety message is consistent and constant?’” said Michael Molloy, fire chief at the Meaford Fire Department, who nominated the broker association for the award. “So we pooled our resources and we got together 27 different fire departments in Grey and Bruce County and we decided if we all pitch in $300 per station.” (continued.)

The brokers association matched the funds, giving the firefighters about $13,000 to use for their radio campaign.

 

“We raised that money through our association’s ‘Meet the Underwriter’ nights, our memberships, and our annual golf tournament,” said GBIBA president Jason Rahn. “It just fit what we were trying to do – promote fire safety – and this was kind of a no-brainer.”

 

The campaign promotes several messages, including making sure candles are blown out, updating electrical boxes from a fuse to a breaker service, checking smoke alarms, candle safety, and campfire safety during the summers.

 

Is there any measure of the campaign’s success? Rahn said statistics he has received from one mutual insurance company have been encouraging. The company reported 34 fire claims in 2007. As the campaign reaches its sixth year, the company’s fire claims were reduced down to 20.

 

“This important radio campaign would not have been possible without the generous support of the Grey Bruce Insurance Brokers Association,” said Ontario fire marshal Ted Wieclawek, who is also chair of the Fire Marshal's Public Fire Safety Council.  “This partnership has been valuable in helping to enhance fire safety in those rural areas of our province and, since the campaign extends throughout the year, the opportunity for success is greatly enhanced.”