June 17, 2019 | Cromwell, CT – Last Saturday night, the “See You Out There” public service announcement launched by the Everyday Hero CT volunteer firefighter recruitment campaign in April 2018 won a Boston/New England Regional Emmy® Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
The 60-second video, produced in partnership with Hebron volunteer firefighter and New York Citybased cinematographer Matthew Troy (pictured on the left in the above Tweet), was designed to increase awareness and visibility for the volunteer firefighter shortage in Connecticut. Three versions of the PSA (30-, 60-, and 90-second videos) include captivating footage and visually groundbreaking moments as well as feature fire personnel from 16 different departments, including at least one from every county in Connecticut.
“We set out to make a PSA the Connecticut fire service would be proud of,” says Matthew Troy. “As a filmmaker, I wanted to create the best production possible to share this message. It was a team effort, from so many people, and I am humbled by this recognition. I proudly share this honor with everyone who took part in this journey.”
Highlighting volunteer firefighters operating at various emergency scenes and performing some of the many skills they possess thanks to the professional training they receive, the PSA illustrates that volunteer firefighters come from all walks of life. They’re male, female, teachers, business owners, retirees, mothers, fathers, students, and more. And, they want more members of their communities to answer the call. The video ends with a plea: “So, what are you waiting for? Are you ready to make a difference? Are you ready to join our team? Your community needs you. We need you.”
“We knew from the start that Matthew’s passion for volunteerism and the fire service combined with his filmmaking talents were going to give us a recruitment piece like none we’d ever seen,” says Everyday Hero CT program manager Fred Dudek, retired chief of the Killingworth Volunteer Fire Company. “And, it’s working. We’re getting more and more inquiries every day. The Emmy® win is beyond anything we could have imagined.”
Connecticut has more than 300 fire departments staffed by over 26,000 firefighters, 83 percent of whom are volunteers and are professionally trained. Volunteer firefighters can be called upon 24 hours per day, seven days per week to abandon the warmth and comfort of their homes in the middle of the night or during a holiday celebration, leave the fun of family gatherings on sunny summer afternoons, enter burning buildings, rescue stranded hikers and struggling swimmers, extricate victims from automobiles, and more. Volunteer firefighters save their communities millions of dollars every year.
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