Making history: ShelterBox first to offer fire retardant tents to relief camps
ShelterBox, a global provider of emergency shelters and vital supplies to communities affected by disaster and humanitarian crises, is the first organization in the humanitarian world to offer fire retardant (FR) treated tents to the field.
Shane Revill, Supply Chain Manager of ShelterBox, said in a statement:
“We are proud to be the first humanitarian organisation to introduce the FR-treated tents, a safety solution thus far unknown to the community. It is an incredible thought that, as of today, tents in refugee camps are not FR treated, potentially causing injuries, death and loss of property to those who have lost their homes already once before.”
Shelterbox’s implementing partner, Hand in Hand for Syria, a UK-registered charity that provides humanitarian and medical aid into the country, has shipped 500 units of the newest FR-treated family tents to a refugee camp in Syria. Over the last four years, Syrian refugees have faced fires in tents and mobile homes. Recently in Zaatari Camp for Syrian refugees in Jordan, a tent fire caused the death of four refugees from one family.
ShelterBox purchased the FR-treated family tents from the market leader in humanitarian industry, NRS Relief, following participation in the first-ever FR tent demonstration on World Refugee Day 2014. During the NRS Relief event, fire was set to FR tents and non-FR tents.
Mr. Revill remarked:
“The difference between the two is just incredible, really. It was quite scary to see the way the non-fire retardant tent actually just disappeared within 90 seconds of ignition. Whereas in the fully fire retardant tent, the flame applied to the roof patch for about 30 seconds slowly took hold and eventually extinguished itself.”
As the first supplier to offer affordable and fully Fire Retardant tents and tarpaulins to the greater humanitarian community, NRS Relief has been presented with the Aid Innovation Challenge award at AidEx 2014, the leading international event dedicated to the development and aid sector.