The Congressional Fire Services Institute and the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation have selected the Cumberland Valley Volunteer Firemen's Association for the Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes Fire Safety Leadership Award.

The award will be presented at the 19th Annual National Fire and Emergency Services Dinner on March 29 in Washington, D.C. Named after retired Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes of Maryland, a strong advocate of fire and rescue personnel during his 36 years in Congress, the award recognizes organizations for their outstanding contributions to firefighter health and safety. State Farm Insurance and VFIS are corporate supporters of the award.

Nine years ago, CVVFA established the Emergency Responder Safety Institute to educate and inform first responders about the hazards of roadway operations. It promotes best practices, policies and procedures to minimize injuries and death to first responders. Since then, the association has spearheaded development of best practices and national standards covering all phases of safety for emergency responders at roadway incidents. The CVVFA's membership hails from the mid-Atlantic states of Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.

CFSI President Bill Jenaway and NFFF Chairman Hal Bruno issued a joint statement recognizing the CVVFA for its achievement:

"We are proud to be presenting this award to the Cumberland Valley Volunteer Firemen's Association for their outstanding achievements to enhance firefighter health and safety," they said. "Through this award program, we hope to encourage greater national support of the NFFF Firefighter Life-Safety Initiatives to make the fire service safer for our more than one million first responders. We would also like to acknowledge the many organizations that submitted outstanding nominations, demonstrating the progress being made on this important front."