Scouts visiting the station to complete their Chubb Fire Safety badge

8th June 2012
Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service’s Swindon Fire Station played host to a party of local Scouts, visiting the station to complete their Chubb Fire Safety badge with a live fire demonstration.

The badge requires Scouts to understand what causes a fire, how to call the Fire Brigade, how to understand fire blanket and extinguisher usage, as well as fire safety for the home. In addition to a tour of the station, some 15 Scouts from the 2nd Stratton (St Philips) Scout group participated in a live fire demonstration from Chubb Fire Training Officer Andy Hicks in order to complete their Fire Safety badge.

Since its launch in 2004, more than 100,000 Scouts have received the Chubb Fire Safety Badge, making it one of the most popular of all scouting badges. Chubb renewed its sponsorship deal with The Scout Association two years ago, including the provision of new educational literature and posters, to more than 7,200 local Scout Troops across the UK, as well as practical help from the company’s nationwide network of offices and engineers.

Jane Garland, Chubb Fire & Security Marketing Communication Manager, explains: “Our expertise in the field of fire safety means that we can really offer The Scout Association some practical assistance in running the fire scheme. Each year, our engineers service around three million extinguishers in the UK and we are keen to get involved in working with the scouts and the community on a local level.”

"The importance of fire safety simply cannot be emphasised enough, it is a sad fact that almost 13,500 people are killed or injured each year in fires in the UK, which very often are preventable,: Garland said. “The Fire Safety Badge offers scouts some invaluable advice on fire prevention, detection and escape routes should a fire break out, so it is great to see so many young people participating in this badge, and hopefully taking away some vital knowledge to help keep them safe from fire in years to come.”