On Thursday members of the Catalan Government’s Fire Brigade, GRAF Bombers de la Generalitat, received the Wildland Fire Safety Award in recognition of their contribution to the wildland fire-fighter community. The prize was awarded to Marc Castellnou who collected the award together with Josep Pallàs during the 13th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit celebrated in Boise, Idaho (US) this week.

 

The Wildland Fire Safety Award is granted once a year to a member of the wildland fire-fighting community who has contributed significantly to wildland fire-fighter safety, whether it be directly on the fireline or indirectly through its management or an academic contribution in the field.

 

Castellnou’s work was recognised during the “Managing Fire, Understanding Ourselves” conference on the human dimensions in wildland fire, which also offered a joint debate to exchange experiences, ideas and technology at both regional and global levels.

 

Additionally, over 300 professionals from various emergency service departments and fire services from all over the world took part in the many workshops and exhibitions offered at the summit.

 

Furthemore, Marc Castellnou also took part in the “Global wildland fire perspectives” panel session and gave a conference on uncertainty awareness safety entitled “Rethinking Awareness, between firefighter safety and safety strategy”.

 

 

The International Association of Wildland Fire (IAWF) is an independent, non-profit organization of professionals in the wildland fire community which offers a forum for the discussion of important wildland fire issues.

 

Over the years, the Wildland Fire Safety Summit has gathered members of the international wildland fire community to deliberate on safety measures, promote best practices in training as well as in fire-fighting operations. The summit also offers the opportunity to discuss research findings and explore new approaches to wildland fire safety.

Marc Castellnou Ribau, is the Strategical Fire Analyst for the Government of Catalonia’s national fire services. He is founder and chairman of the Pau Costa Foundation and has contributed extensively to wildland fire research.