Giessen. Following the success of the first edition in 2011, the "Fire brigade of the future" innovation prize is now entering its second round this year. Last year, 19 volunteer fire brigades from the Central Hesse region took part in the competition organised by Stadtwerke Gießen. The jury will meet for the first time this year this Wednesday. This means that applications for inclusion in the competition can be submitted again with immediate effect. The closing date for applications is 30 April 2012, after which the participating fire brigades will have until the end of September to implement their projects. The winner will then be chosen in December by representatives from politics, the press and experts from the professional fire brigades and Giessen municipal utilities, including District Administrator Anita Schneider, Grünberg Mayor Frank Ide, District Fire Inspector Mario Binsch and Deputy Head of the professional fire brigade Frank Mathes.
"As far as the type of project is concerned, we deliberately set very few guidelines," explains SWG company spokesperson Ina Weller about the general conditions of the competition. "It is important to us to spur on the innovative strength and creativity of the volunteer fire brigades in the Giessen area." This leaves room for new ideas - even unusual ideas should be given a chance, according to SWG. The relevant application forms and further information are available from Stadtwerke Gießen, Lahnstraße 31 in Gießen or at http://www.stadtwerke-giessen.de/innovationspreis/ on the Internet.
The picture:
(from left to right) Deputy Head of the Professional Fire Brigade Frank Mathes, Frank Ide (Advisory Board of the District Fire Brigade Association and Mayor of Grünberg), District Administrator Anita Schneider (Advisory Board of the District Fire Brigade Association), Ina Weller (SWG), Jochen Lamberts (Gießener Anzeiger), Constanze Schleenbecker-Büttner (Hessischer Rundfunk), District Fire Inspector Mario Binsch, Norbert Schmidt (Gießener Allgemeine Zeitung), Stephanie Orlik (SWG)