One Chance: How a Fire Symposium Became a Long Partnership

Some jobs feel bigger than the brief. This was one of them.

In 2023, we at Acious Media were introduced to Africa Fire Mission, AFM for short. They were organising a fire and rescue symposium in Nairobi, at JKIA, bringing together firefighters, trainers and emergency responders from across the continent and beyond.

They had held the symposium before. The documentation from that earlier edition had never been delivered. So when they came to us, there was a quiet question underneath the conversation: will you actually deliver?

For us it was simple. An international NGO, respected far beyond Kenya, was giving a young production company a chance. We had one shot. We had to deliver.

On the ground

I took charge of on-set photography, and later the video editing.

A fire symposium is not a normal conference. Yes, there are speeches and panels. But much of the week happens outside, on the training ground. Live flame drills. Hose relays against the clock. Water rescue in the pool. Crews in full turnout gear running, kneeling, shouting instructions, laughing when it goes right.

You can't direct any of that. You watch, you anticipate, and you move. You learn quickly where the heat is, where the water will spray, and where to stand so you don't end up in someone's way. You learn to read the instructors, because they know a second before everyone else when something is about to happen.

Some of my favourite photos from that first year came from the in-between moments. A trainee taking a breath before a drill. An instructor's grin after a perfect run. A high five on the grass.

And we delivered

We delivered. Daily highlights during the week, a final film, and a full photo set the organisers could use for their reports, partners and social media.

That one chance changed things. Since 2023 we've documented the symposium every year. And it grew beyond the symposium. We now cover other AFM work through the year too, including Active Bleeding Control training and the Fire Prevention Internship.

What I take away every time

People sometimes think a documentary photographer just turns up, takes pictures and leaves. That's not how it feels from the inside.

Every time I go into AFM's world, I come out a little different. I've learned how a hose is rolled so it deploys cleanly, how a tourniquet is applied, why fire prevention starts long before anyone calls the fire brigade. I've met people from countries I've never visited who spend their lives running towards what everyone else runs from.

That's one of the gifts of this work. You don't only document. You learn, you live inside someone else's world for a while, and you leave with new connections, new friends and a slightly bigger idea of what people are capable of.

AFM gave us one chance. I'm grateful we took it.

See the photos in the Africa Fire Mission gallery and the film Ready to Respond.