March 28, 2013 – The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has named Tracy Koslowski, public education/information manager of the Drexel Heights Fire District in Tucson, Ariz., as the 2013 Fire and Life Safety Educator of the Year.
NFPA’s Fire and Life Safety Educator of the Year Award recognizes a fire and life safety educator who works for a local fire department, uses NFPA's materials in consistent and creative ways, demonstrates excellence and innovation in reaching out to the community, and views NFPA as the source for safety information.
Koslowski serves as the Drexel Heights Fire District public information officer, overseeing all of the district’s public education programs and representing it with the news media, along with performing fire marshal duties. She has pioneered innovative fire safety outreach programs to address all terrain vehicle (ATV) crashes, preteen and teenage fitness and fire preparedness, wheeled sports safety and child passenger safety, among others. With Koslowski at the helm, Drexel Heights Fire District partnered with NFPA’s Safe Community Program to create Safety Fair events that each reach 5,000 residents.
Koslowski has advanced fire safety education programs using NFPA materials for 20 years, from the time that she was a volunteer at Tucson Fire Department. Since 1993, she has taught Learn Not to Burn® lessons in over 140 schools and fervently promoted Fire Prevention Week outreach. Along with Learn Not to Burn®, she has implemented Risk Watch®, and Remembering When™: A Fire and Fall Prevention Program for Older Adults programs in her local communities for years. NFPA recognizes that educators like Koslowski are instrumental in the distribution of NFPA materials and messages, and in keeping their communities safe.
About the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
NFPA is a worldwide leader in fire, electrical, building, and life safety. The mission of the international nonprofit organization founded in 1896 is to reduce the worldwide burden of fire and other hazards on the quality of life by providing and advocating consensus codes and standards, research, training, and education. NFPA develops more than 300 codes and standards to minimize the possibility and effects of fire and other hazards. All NFPA codes and standards can be viewed at no cost at www.nfpa.org/freeaccess.
