IIE Lunchtime Seminar - Steve Jordan - Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service

Abstract: Currently, it is estimated that there are over 60 million displaced persons worldwide and it is approximated that 21.3 million of these live in refugee camps.  Due to the rapid increase of refugees there are enormous strains placed on humanitarian agencies and host countries to plan, organise and maintain formal and informal settlements.

The risk of fires occurring in settlements remains extremely high due to a wide range of factors such as building materials, overcrowded temporary structures, unsafe cooking practices and poor fire prevention awareness.  Fire injuries remain one of the most common causes of death and disability amongst refugee communities. Despite such a large risk there still remains inadequate fire safety guidelines, understanding and a commitment to reduce this risk which only increases the sense of vulnerability amongst communities.

Operation Florian is an international humanitarian charity staffed entirely by professional volunteers from the UK fire and rescue service and academic institutions, with over 20 years of experience developing and supporting fire and emergency services overseas. Our professional staff has extensive experience of undertaking disaster risk reduction initiatives, capacity development, and emergency medical training and crisis management education.  The charity has donated hundreds of fire engine and vehicles, tonnes of firefighting and rescue equipment and worked in a number of diverse contexts, from refugee camps in Thailand and Kenya, to long terms and multi-scalar engagements in Macedonia, Zimbabwe, Cape Verde. Operation Florian is a member of FIRE AID, an alliance of UK organisations and services with a mutual interest in providing ethical and sustainable donations of fire and rescue aid and training to countries facing the greatest challenges.

Our expertise in Fire Hazard and Risk Assessments and Vulnerability and Capacity Assessments is rooted in our professional day to day experience in the UK and Europe, which we have applied to diverse locations around the world. Our expertise is drawn from our membership to analyse and support emergency planning, fire safety enforcement, urban search and rescue, training and education, (including for children and young adults), community and resilience, command and control management and of course fire and rescue response. As well as operational expertise, we use our strategic experience to engage with a range of stakeholders in order to make sure fire risk reduction responses are sustainable, institutionalised and target those who are most vulnerable.

Nonetheless, Operation Florian recognises that this is a complex issue that needs cross sectoral approach to how we can respond to the challenge of reducing this risk.  A major element is working with academic and research institutions to understand more what the problems are and how these can be overcome.

Bio: 

Steve is a professional firefighter who has served with Greater Manchester for 17 years and is qualified as an instructor in a range of technical skills such as breathing apparatus and road traffic collision rescue. 

He has been a member of Operation Florian, a UK registered Fire and Rescue Humanitarian Aid Charity for 14 years.  During this period he has worked with post conflict reconstruction projects in Bosnia retraining demobilised soldiers to become firefighters.  He has also been involved in a number of fire and rescue service capacity building projects in countries such as Montenegro, Paraguay and Ecuador.  Currently, Steve is the project manager for Operation Florian activities in Macedonia for the past 10 years which has been a capacity building project involving the national fire service. 

More recently Steve has become involved in leading on the fire risk reduction projects in refugee camps.  Since 2014, Steve has led projects in Kenya, Thailand and Lebanon reviewing all aspects of camp fire safety, prevention, preparedness and response.

Steve has a Masters Degree in International Development: Poverty, Conflict and Post war reconstruction from the University of Manchester Global Development Institute.

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