Today is a very special day for FireWare: we have reached the milestone of 20 years! On one hand, it seems like ages ago, on the other hand, it feels like just yesterday when we went to the Chamber of Commerce to register ourselves…
It all started with a graduation research project by Sef Hendrickx at the Amsterdamse Hoge school voor de Kunsten (Theatre School), the Technical Theatre Arts program. This research, “The Theatrical Firefighter,” from 2003, sought to answer the question of why special effects from the theatre and film industry were not being used for the training of emergency responders. The outcome of this research was that there were indeed possibilities to apply these techniques, but to make it truly successful, some adjustments were desirable.
Jacqueline van Zanen and Sef Hendrickx started FireWare from a student room in Amsterdam. Now, 20 years later, FireWare consists of a team of 24 people working on the competence of emergency responders worldwide. And all of this still based on a graduation research project from 20 years ago…
FireWare could write about 3 books on all the successes the company has achieved in the past 20 years. And about 17 books on everything that was at least not handy or could be considered a blunder, and everything in between. But fortunately, we have learned a lot over time. And we apply those lessons day in and day out to help emergency responders all over the world become and remain competent!
20 Years: That calls for a celebration. 20 years with fantastic team members, fantastic dealers, fantastic products, and projects in a fantastic market. We can proudly say that we have contributed significantly to the training experience and thereby the competence of emergency responders. And yes, we are truly proud of that! And that is actually the biggest reason for us to celebrate!
Our R&D team has also been working tirelessly in recent years. We are thrilled that our pioneering work over the past 20 years to take simulated fire to another level has not been in vain. More and more organizations are embracing simulated fire and seeing its added value.
Even in recent times, we have been working hard on a number of new products and services. And in the coming year, we will gradually introduce them. And one thing we can promise: it will be spectacular! So, keep an eye on our website and social media!
Today, we first celebrate! And then, we start with the introduction of the first innovation: the new packaging of the smoke fluids. Onward to the next 20 years!
