FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: 11 March 2014
Media Contact:
David
A. Greene, Deputy Chief
Phone Number:
843-539-1960
E-Mail:
dgreene@colletoncounty.org
Fire
Prevention Efforts with FM Global Grant
WALTERBORO, S.C.—
Colleton County Fire-Rescue has received
a $3,275 fire prevention grant from FM Global, one of the world’s
largest commercial property insurers.
FM Global representatives presented the award to
Lieutenant/Fire Marshal Michael Banks at the
Colleton County Fire-Rescue Headquarters. The award will be used to
assist with fire prevention activities in the community to help educate the
community and reduce the number of fires.
“We are extremely grateful for the financial support
from FM Global,” said Lieutenant Michael Banks. “Smoke detectors are quite
literally life protectors as they provide the earliest possible notification
to occupants when a fire occurs in the home.
Unfortunately, our department often finds a lack of or inoperable
smoke detectors after structure fires.
This financial support will help to reverse this trend and better
protect the citizens of Colleton County.”
Because fire continues to be the leading cause of property
damage worldwide, during the past 35 years FM Global has contributed
millions of dollars in fire prevention grants to fire service organizations
around the globe. Locally, the company has awarded grants to a number of
South Carolina-based organizations.
“At FM Global, we strongly
believe the majority of property damage is preventable, not inevitable,”
said Michael Spaziani, manager of the fire prevention grant program. “Far
too often, inadequate budgets prevent those organizations working to prevent
fire from being as proactive as they would like to be. With additional
financial support, grant recipients are actively helping to improve property
risk in the communities they serve.”
Through its Fire Prevention Grant Program, FM Global
awards grants quarterly to fire departments—as well as national, state,
regional, local and community organizations worldwide—that best demonstrate
a need for funding, where dollars can have the most demonstrable impact on
preventing fire, or mitigating the damage it can quickly cause.
To learn more about FM Global’s
Fire Prevention Grant Program, or to apply for a grant, please visit
www.fmglobal.com/grants.
For more than 175 years, many of the world’s largest organizations have turned to FM Global to develop cost-effective property insurance and engineering solutions to protect their business operations from fire, natural disasters and other types of property risk. With clients in more than 130 countries, FM Global ranks #541 among FORTUNE magazine’s largest companies in America and is rated A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best and AA (Very Strong) by Fitch Ratings. The company has been named “Best Property Insurer in the World” by Euromoney magazine, “Best Global Property Insurer” by Global Finance magazine and was voted “Best Commercial Property Insurer” in Business Insurance’s 2010 annual Readers Choice Awards.