Great White Concert
Tragedy, Ten Years Later: Fire Survivors,
Responders Remember
To pyro or not to pyro? Ten years after one
of the deadliest nightclub fires in history,
at a Rhode Island gig by the band Great
White, plenty of rock fans can't see the
most basic sparks go off on stage without
flashing back to the news that 100 fans died
on the night of Feb. 20, 2oo3 at the Station
club. How much more traumatic, we can only
imagine, to be one of the 663 people who did
escape from the concert with their lives. Read
more here
Special thanks to
Rob Feeney and
Peter
Ginaitt for their compelling
interviews today at the
National
Press Club to media outlets
across the nation. It's hard to
believe its been 10 years since the
Station nightclub tragic fire. Your
stories highlighted the important
role that fire sprinklers play in
community fire protection. You make
a difference by sharing what
happened 10 years ago, so that
others may learn and so that we can
be proactive with policy decisions
that promote life-saving technology.
Thank you on behalf of advocates
everywhere.
Images From Station
Nightclub
Fire
NIST Re-creation of "The Station Night Club
fire" without sprinklers
NIST Recreation of "The Station Nightclub FIre"
with Sprinklers
Advocates’
Coalition Wins International Telly Awards for
Home Fire Safety Videos
Pleasant View, TN (August 1, 2011) – Common Voices, an
Advocates’ Coalition of individuals affected by fire,
has received two Bronze Telly Awards – one of the most
prestigious awards in advertising and video and film
production – for a fire safety public service
announcement campaign, as well as for one of the
individual videos within the campaign. The PSA campaign,
was among more than 11,000 entries from all 50 states
and five continents.
Read more here
Common Voices
Releases New PSAs:
Personal Stories Support The Need For Residential Fire
Sprinklers
Common Voices released a series of six (6) new PSAs that
tells their story and the need for residential fire
sprinklers. Each PSA has a personal message from Common
Voices advocates, but many with a twist. The complete
media kit is available by visiting
www.fireadvocates.org
and selecting the “order” button on the home page, the
kits are free thanks to the Department of Homeland
Security Assistance to Firefighters Act fire prevention
grant. Read
more here
“The Stories Behind the PSAs”
by Vickie Pritchett
Vina Drennan ~ “Sleep with a Firefighter” I will never forget Vina sharing this
idea with me…the idea being to make us think
about how simple it is to install fire
sprinklers and the tongue in cheek reference to
allowing firefighters be “like firefighters in
your home that work 24/7, 365 days a year.”
Read
more here
Common Voices Receives
Fire Prevention Grant For National Media
Campaign to Focus on Building Safe Homes with
Fire Sprinklers
Washington DC – Common Voices received
notification from the 2009 Assistance to
Firefighters Grant Program, Fire Prevention
program, administered by the U.S. Department of
Homeland Security that their grant in the amount
of $222,290.00 was funded. Read
more here
Acceptance of Senator
Paul S. Sarbanes Fire Safety Leadership Award
On behalf of the Common Voices Coalition we
thank you --- to the Congressional Fire Services
Institute & National Fallen Firefighters
Foundation for your leadership, and to State
Farm Insurance and VFIS for your corporate
support. Read more here
Fatal Fires Prompt
National Warning
Fire deaths during January are at a pace above
2008, according to information provided by state
fire marshals across the country. In a snapshot
taken of the number of fire deaths in 28 states
by the National Association of State Fire
Marshals, at least 173 people have been killed
during January 2009 as opposed to 131 in January
2008, an increase of almost one-third. Read
more here
America’s Fire Problem is real.
According to the U.S. Fire Administration and the Center for
Disease Control, someone dies in a fire about every two
hours in America, and someone is injured every 29 minutes.
Over 3,000 people die annually. 82% of these deaths occur in
the home. Fire Sprinklers are part of the solution. Fire
sprinklers can and do make a difference. Simply stated, Fire
Sprinklers Save Lives. There is no better way to understand
this problem than to LISTEN to those who have been affected
by fire. Because of that, the Common Voices Coalition has
been formed.
As the song states, there is always someone who
serves as “the wind beneath our wings” and in the case of
our Coalition, the wind is three NFSA board members. Their
vision to create the Advocates’ Coalition of Common Voices,
has put into action their dream to give back. The story of
this Coalition is really about “Declaring an industry’s
commitment” and “Paying It Forward.”
The creation of the Advocates’ Coalition is a
key step in taking the NFSA’s Board Vision to the next
level. We much never underestimate our experiences nor our
ability to influence others with lessons learned.
Turning Tragedy into Advocacy is a choice, and
we can learn from those who have made the choice to share.
Our challenge is to join them in their quest to PREVENT
another TRAGEDY through education and the installation of
something as simple as fire sprinklers. Listen to our Common
Voices, join us…..together we can make a difference.
To NFSA Board members Aus Marburger, Wayne Gey
& Gregg Huennekens….thank you for the vision and your
commitment. To the Advocates …. Thank you for opening your
hearts and sharing your stories….we dedicate this Coalition
to YOU and to those whom we have lost….we know we are doing
exactly what they would want us to do…making a difference
one day at a time!
