Rolf H. Jensen Memorial Public Education Grant

Funded by The RJA Group, Inc.

The Rolf H. Jensen Memorial Public Education Grant is presented annually to a local fire department to support a fire and life safety education community-wide program or campaign.

Recipients
Biography of Rolf H. Jensen

Download the 2013 application (PDF, 496 KB). Deadline is February 8, 2013.

Eligibility
The Rolf H. Jensen Memorial Public Education Grant provides a $5,000 grant to one local fire department to support a community-wide fire and life safety education program or campaign. Funded by the RJA Group, the grant is open to any fire department (career or volunteer) located in the United States or Canada.

Criteria
Recipients must meet the following:

Demonstration of a plan to implement a community-wide fire and life safety program/campaign.
Clearly stated goals and objectives.
Staffing assigned to implement the program/campaign.
A 1-page final report, including an overview of the project, number of people reached, media coverage, life saves, etc., must be received at NFPA by December 28, 2012.

Grant

$5,000 to support the implementation and evaluation of the fire and life safety education program/campaign.
Commemorative plaque.
Recipient’s name inscribed on the Rolf H. Jensen Memorial Public Education Grant winners’ plaque displayed at NFPA headquarters.

Rolf H. Jensen, P.E.

Biography
Rolf H. Jensen, P.E., was a leading authority on fire protection engineering and participated and supported the NFPA consensus standards process throughout his distinguished career. A former teacher, Mr. Jensen was a staunch proponent of fire and life safety education. On the 25th anniversary of the RJA Group, Inc., the founder and Chairman of the Board was honored by his colleagues by establishing an NFPA award in Rolf Jensen's name.

Mr. Jensen dedicated his life to advancing the art and science of fire protection. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Fire Protection and Safety Engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology. He began his career as an engineer and researcher at Underwriters Laboratories. Mr. Jensen had an extensive association with NFPA, having served on the board of directors, Standards Council, and on more than a dozen technical committees. In 1988, NFPA's Standards Council awarded Mr. Jensen the Standards Medal; the highest award bestowed by the Council for contributions in the development of NFPA's codes and standards. He died in 2002, leaving a legacy in the fire protection field.

Recipients

2012 recipient

Brockton Fire Department - Winner of Jensen Award

NFPA Vice President of Field Operations and Education Gary Keith (right), presents Brockton Fire Chief Richard Francis and Mayor Linda Balzotti with the Rolf H. Jensen plaque in front of the Belair High Rise, one of five high-rise properties in Brockton that are part of the department’s High-Rise Apartment Safety and Emergency Preparedness Program.

Brockton Fire Department, Brockton, Massachusetts, is the winner of the 2012 Rolf H. Jensen Memorial Public Education Grant. The $5,000 grant will support the department’s fire and life safety public education initiative in high rise housing, called the “High-Rise Apartment Safety and Emergency Preparedness Program.”

In 2011 Brockton Fire Department responded to 21,277 incidents, with 1,180 occurring at only five properties, all high-rises. The fire department will team up with the Brockton Housing Authority and the Brockton Emergency Management Agency to provide public education to those properties and will then expand the outreach to other housing developments.

The program will be evaluated using a three-part approach: a comparison of incident numbers before and after the program’s implementation, instructor evaluations, and an apartment fire safety survey in which residents respond to questions about fire hazards in their homes.

2011 - College Station, TX, College Station Fire Department

2010 - Grand Traverse, MI, Metro Fire Department

2009 - Montgomery County, MD, Fire and Rescue Service

2008 - Sacramento, CA, Metropolitan Fire District

2007 - North Charleston, SC, Fire Department

2006 - Tuscaloosa, AL, Fire & Rescue Service

2005 - Rochester, NY, Fire Department

2004 - Suffolk, VA, Department of Fire & Rescue

2003 - Lacey Fire District Three and the Lacey Sunsetters Kiwanis Club of Lacey, WA

2002 - Snohomish County (WA) Fire District #8 and the privately-operated Sunnyside Preschool in Lake Stevens, WA

2001 - Glenwood, IL, Fire Department and Rhodia Chemical Heights Plant

1999 - Redlands Fire Department and Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital, CA

1998 - Winnipeg Fire Department and Kiwanis Club of Winnipeg

1997 - Rochester, NY, Fire Department, National Fire Service Support Systems, Inc., and BIC Corporation

1996 - Oregon Fire Education Association, and National Association of Insurance Women, Oregon Chapter

1995 - Saint Paul Fire Department and American Red Cross, St. Paul Area Chapter

1994 - Canadian Tire Child Prevention Foundation and Fire Prevention Canada.