October 20, 2008

MEDIA RELEASE Contact information

For Immediate release Chief Michael B. Mansfield

Lt. Todd Pomerleau

Phone # 978-475-1281 x 2001

Andover Fire Rescue earns 2007 Life Safety Achievement Award.

Andover Fire Rescue has been presented with a Life safety Achievement Award for the year 2007 by the residential Fire Safety Institute (RSFI). Roy L. Marshall, Director of the RFSI, announced the award.

For fifteen (15) years, the Life Safety Achievement Award has recognized the local fire prevention activities that contributed to reducing the number of lives lost in residential fires. Andover Fire Rescue qualified for this award in year 2007 because it recorded zero fire deaths in structures that year. Although residential fires in the United States account for only 20 percent of all fires, they result in 80 percent of all fire deaths. The RFSI is committed to reducing that number. A total of 745 fire departments received the 2007 Life safety Achievement Award.

“Experience tells us that fire prevention activity and public education can significantly reduce life and property loss from residential fires”, Marshall said. “Prevention and education are very cost effective compared to the traditional approach of relying on fire suppression. The Life Safety Achievement Award recognizes fire departments for their fire prevention efforts and encourages them to continually improve those efforts.”

The RFSI is a public interest group whose mission is to reduce residential fire deaths and injuries. The RFSI advocates the use of residential fire sprinklers; smoke alarms, carbon monoxide detectors, and teaching people fire-safe behavior. The RFSI assists fire departments with implementing residential sprinkler/smoke alarm programs on a local basis. The RFSI’s membership includes the United States Fire Administration, the National Association of State Fire Marshal’s and private industry/associations with an interest in and commitment to residential fire safety.