Silver Cross of Honour for Helmut Hülsken

Former Chief Fire Officer Helmut Hülsken has been honoured for his special services to the fire service. On 9 April, he received the German Fire Service Cross of Honour in Silver from the hands of State Fire Director Thomas Deckers. The award particularly recognises his decades of commitment to fire safety education and youth work at local and national level.

The city of Bocholt is delighted to have honoured a deserving member of its fire brigade with an important award. The award of the Cross of Honour, the second highest honour in the German fire service, was presented by the German Fire Service Association. On behalf of the association, the state fire director of North Rhine-Westphalia, Thomas Deckers, presented the honour in the presence of the Bocholt fire service management with Dirk Arping and Jörg Telaar.

Helmut Hülsken's career has been closely linked to fire protection in the region for decades. He joined the Bocholt youth fire brigade at the age of 14. After joining the active fire service, he later became a full-time employee of the city administration. Throughout his service, he clearly focussed on promoting young talent. From 1986 to 2006, he held the position of town youth fire brigade warden and also served as district youth fire brigade warden for seven years. In this role, he was instrumental in setting up numerous youth fire brigades in the Borken district.

"Promoting the next generation of firefighters requires perseverance and passion", explains Dirk Arping, head of the Bocholt fire service, "qualities that are duly recognised by this prestigious award. Inspiring young people to volunteer secures the future of fire protection"

Another key area of his work was fire prevention education and fire safety awareness. Hülsken worked intensively in kindergartens, schools and companies to impart knowledge about preventive fire safety. His commitment was not limited to the local level. As a long-standing member of the relevant committee at district level and on committees of the German Fire Service Association and the Association for the Promotion of German Fire Protection (vfdb), he helped to shape professional standards. One particular result of his work is his significant involvement in the fire safety regulations in plain language, which help to make safety-related information accessible to all citizens.