Theatre Technology
FireWare was founded by Sef Hendrickx and Jacqueline van Zanen on 28th July 2003. Sef was studying theatre technology at the time and, whilst attending an emergency response training session with a crackle box, wondered why some of the special effects from the theatre and film industry weren't being used for training the emergency response teams. This question became the subject of his thesis research, which subsequently resulted in the idea for founding FireWare.
The effects and techniques from the theatre world, after a few minor adjustments, appeared to be very effectively usable in the training environment for emergency response teams: the research conducted showed there was even a significant improvement.
Sef and Jacqueline spent the first few years in a student room working on the awareness and acceptance of the use of theatre techniques when training emergency response teams. The technical theatre effects proved to be a welcome alternative for the emergency response team trainers and educators.
Growth
They soon needed a little more space than the student room. The company was enjoying steady growth from storage in a sea container, to storage in a driving school hall in Velserbroek in 2004. Work soon commenced on the construction of a simulator which could demonstrate the actual effects. ProFhire, also resident in the business complex, used this space for their emergency response training courses. A win-win situation for both parties was created. FireWare was able to test new ideas with ProFhire's instructors and students and they always had access to innovative training materials.
The home office briefly moved to Schoorl in 2005. An office area and showroom were realised in Velserbroek in 2006. The storage space was quickly becoming too small, which is why a logistical centre in Kerkrade has been used since 2011. All products sold are dispatched from there via a robotised warehouse.
FireWare moved to Wieringerwerf in 2013 and 1.5 years of rebuilding activities has resulted in a building with ideal facilities for brainstorming and designing training solutions. The current location offers space in bright office areas, our own technical services, the rental fleet, a brainstorming area, a practical room and a showroom where customers can familiarise themselves with new products. And last but not east, a large dining table and a fantastic coffee machine are waiting to welcome everyone to join us!
Activities
FireWare has very quickly accommodated all products in 1 webshop in 2003. The rental items and staging training were also added to this at a later stage. However, it didn't appear to be a simple process to make all activities sufficiently clear to visitors. We opted for a new house style in 2007, linked to 3 new trading names: FireSales, FireRent and FireConsult. This strategy was reviewed at the end of 2014 and now everything has been brought back together again under FireWare.
