On May 24, we hosted the Fire Defense Competition, an event that was first held in 1969. It was originally organized by the National Institute of Industry (Instituto Nacional de Industria, INI) and it’s Mutual Insurance Company (Mutualidad de Seguros del INI, MUSINI).
Throughout this article, we will travel back in time, specifically until 1969, returning to the present day. In that historical context, at the onset of the last summer of the decade, between June 16 and 19, the First National Symposium on the Protection and Prevention of Accidents in Industrial Risks took place. It was organized by the National Institute of Industry (INI) and its Mutual Insurance Company (MUSINI), and as guests of the Honor Committee, there were “high-profile personalities from the Ministries of Industry and Finance and representatives of the official and corporate Bodies interested in the topics addressed at the Symposium”, as recorded in the archive of the Documentation Center of the Fundación MAPFRE.
The space chosen for that event was none other than the “assembly hall and workrooms of the National Institute of Industry”. In attendance here were industrial companies, manufacturers of fire protection and extinguishing equipment, entities related to the study of accident prevention, as well as insurance experts, architects, engineers, chemical professionals, etc. There were also foreign observers, as well as directors and technicians of international insurance and reinsurance companies who participated.
The agenda for these three days, from the Welcome Act to the Closing Act, included conferences and lectures. The conferences were led by international guests who discussed matters related to fire protection and accident prevention in the Great Britain of the time, France and Germany. It also shared a more general overview of what was happening in Europe on the high risk of fire incidents. For their part, the lectures were delivered by Spanish professionals and addressed more specific issues such as accident rates in the petrochemical, naval or steelmaking industry, or more general issues such as “insurance and accident prevention”, “industrial risk verification” and “Spanish law and risk prevention”. (If you know about MAPFRE’s International Global Risks Seminars, the description of the 1969 event will be familiar to you.)
Well, this first symposium also included in its program a heading entitled “other acts”. These consisted of simulating two accidents in order to perform a practical demonstration of how to carry out the protection and accident prevention systems. On that occasion, it was the airlines company Iberia Líneas Aéreas, and an engineer from this company, who reported on the systems and means of protection and accident prevention in the aviation industry. As you may have guessed, yes, this is the origin of the Fire Defense Competitions that we know today.
Returning to 2024
Since 1969, it has evolved. The accident prevention, protection and awareness of companies to protect and insure their activity has advanced significantly, so much so that many of them already have their own fire protection brigades.
In the 21st century, and more specifically, in the 2024 Fire Defense Competitions held at the facilities of FORTEM [Formación Técnica en Emergencias en España (Spanish Technical Training in Emergencies)] in El Casar de Guadalajara, we had 11 companies – all MAPFRE clients – who demonstrated their capacity and coordination, in pairs or by teams, in three different tests.
- Test 1: Non-professional fire extinguishers in pairs. In this test, they compete to put out a raft of burning fuel, in pairs, with a 9kg dust extinguisher.
- Test 2: Non-professional fire hoses in pairs. Non-Professional Category. In this test, they compete in shutting down a gas leak on the third floor of a simulated building.
- Test 3: Professional fire hoses. In this test, they compete in shutting down three gas leaks in a simulated refinery and rescue a victim in the shortest possible time.
At LinkedIn we followed each of the tests and announced the winners of each test.
Finally, we want you to know first-hand how the fire extinguishing crew members lived the experience.
And we also had the opportunity to hear from Bosco Francoy, CEO of MAPFRE Global Risks, and Oscar Estrada, Engineering Services Manager of MAPFRE Global Risks.
