It seems like each time I visit the United States Fire Administration’s (USFA) page, I find something new. I don’t know about you, but I get excited each time I find something to put in my fire prevention toolbox, especially if it doesn’t cost my department dime!
On USFA’s Media and PIO section, you will find a variety of visual tools-for print, TV, and Web news-to enhance the fire prevention messages you include in your stories. You can link to any of these safety demonstrations and download broadcast quality images in either High Definition or Standard definition video for B-Roll footage.
For those of you that might not be familiar with B-roll footage, the term "B-roll" is limited to secondary footage that adds meaning to a sequence or disguises the elimination of unwanted content.
Basically what I use the B-Roll footage from USFA for in my videos, is to show the video during a safety or promotional PSA. What is really nice about the B-Roll footage and photos on this site, is that they are available free of charge. This is great, especially if you don’t have time to film safety segments and don’t have a big budget.
B-roll videos on the site include:
- Installing smoke alarms outside sleeping areas
- Installing smoke alarms on every level of a home
- Installing smoke alarms for people with hearing impairments
- Replacing batteries for smoke alarms
- Testing smoke alarms
You will find that these B-rolls include the following diverse populations:
- African American;
- Asian;
- Hispanic;
- Caucasian;
- Older Adults; and,
- Hearing Impaired.
The photos section is my favorite section on this site. Here, you will find photographs in the public domain and are not copyrighted. The photos are high-resolution color photographs depicting best practices in fire prevention and fire-safe behaviors. You gotta love that!
There are pictures for all types of safety, including candle, cooking, heating and cigarette safety, just to name a few. If that wasn’t exciting enough, you will find a selection of photos that include various diverse populations, as well as suggested safety tips to include with the photos!
How nice it is to be able to use these photos without having to worry about copyrights, image release forms, finding models and a house to take photos in, etc… USFA has done all the hard work for you (Hint: Please be sure to credit USFA when you use their materials).
Still trying to picture this in your mind?
Above is an example of a smoke alarm video that the Fire Safety Dogs and I recently put together utilizing a picture from the site:
Can you see what a difference utilizing the smoke alarm picture made in the video? What a great way to visualize your message, don’t you think?
Best wishes on your project! If you would like to share your project using the photos and B-Roll footage from the USFA site, send it our way and we will share it on the Playing it Safe Blog, right here on Firehouse.com! Just send the link to us at [email protected]!
Until next time, stay safe!
