Ed and Kathy love to ride motorcycles in their spare time. Each year, they ride up to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.Ed and Kathy love to ride motorcycles in their spare time. Each year, they ride up to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

Ed and Kathy love to ride motorcycles in their spare time. Each year, they ride up to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

Those results also now provide cost savings to the design and ultimately installed costs of residential sprinkler systems in all regions utilizing sloped ceilings.

Van Walraven served as vice president and is still a member of the Fire Marshal’s Association of Colorado, president and one of five directors for the Basalt & Rural Fire Protection District, member of the International Fire Marshals Association, member of the Fire Sprinkler Advisory Committee for the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control, certified educator and member of the Fire and Life Safety Educators of Colorado. He is on the Code Committee for the Fire Marshal’s Association and Ad Hoc Sprinkler Committee member (currently known as the Colorado Fire Sprinkler Coalition). He was also a member of the Underwriters Laboratories’ (UL) task group evaluating CPVC compatibility for the long term

Van Walraven served for 20 years as fire marshal of Aspen before retiring in 2014. While he talks about his 30-year career in fire protection, in reality it continues with his current service on local, state and national committees. So will he ever truly retire?

"I'm starting to enjoy retirement, but I'll talk life safety to anyone who calls," he says with a smile in his voice.

His wife, Kathy, is helping him make the transition, and he credits her as his main support over the 43 years they've been together.

"We just returned from a cruise to Alaska and my new 'retirement bike,' a Harley-Davidson 2015 Road Glide motorcycle is waiting in the driveway," Van Walraven says. "She understands the process and what I was attempting to do. She's been my sounding board, and I can't thank her enough. She's the friendliest, funniest person I know," he concludes.

Van Walraven is also proud of his other family members: brother Joe is a tribal judge in Reno, Nevada; his nephew Joe is a paramedic/firefighter in Sparks, Nevada; and his niece Vanessa is an esthetician in New York City.

Award Accolades AFSA created the Fire Sprinkler Advocate of the Year award to honor individuals not directly involved in the fire

sprinkler industry whose efforts have significantly advanced the fire protection industry and automatic fire sprinklers. Nominees are recommended by AFSA's Legislative Committee and approved by the Board of Directors.

"Early on, a residential sprinkler ordinance in Aspen made sense to Ed Van Walraven and he made it happen," comments AFSA President Steve Muncy. "It created a foundation for a focus on total life safety in Aspen. As fire marshal he guided efforts in his community, state, and eventually the nation through his work on NFPA committees. He is well deserving of this award."

Golinveaux remarks: "Ed has demonstrated the qualities of passion for life safety in his region, and sprinklers have been a large part of his commitment. He constantly challenges the fire sprinkler industry to do better to help maintain our great reputation and his belief that sprinklers are a vital tool in life safety. Ed is very deserving of this award, and I wholeheartedly congratulate him on this recognition."

"Ed is very deserving of this honor," comments Fire Marshal Bill Harding. "He has worked very passionately in favor of the sprinkler industry for years. His work on NFPA and other committees has helped provide a lot more information and guidance. We've essentially seen an improvement in quality of design and better life-safety protection for the applications that are facing us."

AFSA Legislative Committee Chairman Ted Wills, Jr., Anchor Fire Protection, Perkiomenville, Pennsylvania, will present the 2015 award to Van Walraven on October 12, during the opening general session of AFSA's Convention & Exhibition in Phoenix.

"We are very pleased to be awarding the AFSA Sprinkler Advocate of the Year to Mr. Ed Van Walraven," comments Wills. "Ed's 30-year history in fire protection has seen him serve on NFPA technical committees, as fire marshal for the Aspen Fire Protection District, and an overall advocate for the fire sprinkler industry. It is an honor to recognize his commitment to life safety."

"I'm happy to be a small part of this," summarizes Van Walraven. "I am truly grateful for the unique opportunity to have had a chance to contribute even in a small way to life safety."