The U.S. Fire Service Needs to Increase Fire Prevention Education

My friends, it is time for me to shine the bright light of public scrutiny on an area of fire department operations which is treated in far too many places like the proverbial "red-headed step child” of our operational approach to protection our communities. I am of course referring to our fire prevention, code enforcement, and public safety education programs. I guess I was an early convert to this important area by Nancy Trench from Oklahoma State University, my friend and mentor. I can recall when she adopted me back in the 1990’s. She has taught me well. Now I want to share my thoughts on this important arena,

As the fire service entered the 21st Century, many progressive leaders in the fire service felt that the fire prevention and public life safety educational efforts were not receiving the proper emphasis. Previous national plans for fire protection have had a great deal in common. From President Truman's 1947 Report on Fire Prevention, to the landmark report America Burning, first completed in 1973 (PDF), and subsequent national reports from Wingspread (PDF), Solutions 2000 (PDF) and others, a common theme for increasing efforts in fire prevention is always emphasized as a key component to the fire safety problem in the United States. These are all things which I lived through. They are not dusty pages in a history book to me.

Still, fire safety efforts continue to be under-funded and under-staffed in almost all fire departments. This approach results in more fires, loss of life and property damage that may normally occur under a different approach of "prevention first ". With funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Assistance to Fire Fighters Fire Prevention and Safety Grant program, the Institution of Fire Engineers U.S.A. Branch has established a steering committee comprised of noted fire service and related agency leaders to guide a national strategic planning process for the fire loss prevention that results in a national plan that will coordinate activities and fire prevention efforts. As the immediate past president of the U.S.A. Branch, it has been my privilege to play at least some small part in the Vision 20/20 effort. I was fortunate enough to be a facilitator at our initial meetings. During my time as an officer of the branch it has been a real pleasure to see this program grow and prosper.

What is different about this plan? This project involves a large number of participants representing all areas of fire prevention as well as other advocates and stakeholders to the plan and its recommended outcomes.

This project is committed to action, with a few strategic recommendations being converted to a national plan that stakeholders will be asked to support with documentation of specific actions and benchmarks instead of a long list of recommended practices that everyone agrees are important (but then never get completed). This project will not create recommendations in a vacuum. Other existing efforts that have identified significant progress toward achieving prevention goals will be taken into account to avoid competing effort.

The work of the Vision 20/20 team has led to the development of a number of recommended strategies which are intended to guide the work of the fire service community in improving its fire prevention and life safety efforts. These strategies are:

Strategy One - Fire Prevention Advocacy. The key element of this advocacy effort involves the creation of an online toolkit that has resources that fire chiefs can use in helping to build support for fire prevention programs. These programs are often the first ones to be cut in hard economic times even though we all know that this will have a significant, long term impact on the fire safety and viability of a community. These tools help to make the case for how fire prevention is a key part of a sustainable and growing community.

Strategy Two – Fire Prevention Marketing. It was determined by the Vision 20/20 development team that a national, coordinated fire safety campaign focusing on a number of key areas. This campaign needs to be an ongoing effort throughout the year and brings together all of the various fire safety organizations to work in concert towards common, market-tested goals.

Strategy Three – Fire Prevention Culture. A great deal of effort has been devoted to the development of a culture of fire prevention awareness within the fire service. The developer felt that it was necessary to embed the value of fire prevention within the fire service.

Some of the parts to this strategy involved the following issues and efforts:

Enhance recruitment, training and education practices in fire departments
Recognize and reward successful fire prevention activities internally and externally
Adopt industry standards (relative to professional qualifications) into law
Make use of the Department of Homeland Security grant process to elevate the value of fire prevention within the fire service
Develop a comprehensive, strategic master plan for fire prevention that utilizes education, enforcement , engineering, and evaluation methods

Strategy Four – Fire Prevention Technology. It was decided that a greater effort was needed to actively explore ways to identify and utilize the latest technology to push the education and code message. This involves all aspects of the fire detection and suppression industry.

Strategy Five – Fire Prevention Codes and Standards. It was decided that a collaborative environment has to be developed among and between the various stakeholders in this effort. The need was identified to support increased research to enhance the understanding of fire and to identify and justify changes to codes and standards. It was determined that incentives for adoption and enforcement of model codes and standards need to be pursued. Increase required training in building and fire codes at all levels and ranks within the fire service was felt to be necessary in addition to the promotion of fire codes within sustainable structures and “green buildings”. The need to establish accountability for the adoption and enforcement of fire and building codes was also felt to be very important.

Fire is Everyone’s Fight

One of the important creations to arise out of the efforts on the efforts of the Vision 20/20 project of the U.S.A Branch of the Institution of Fire Engineers cooperative program entitled "Fire is Everyone’s Fight." This program has been designed to unite the fire service and many others in a collaborative effort to reduce home fire injuries, deaths and property loss. It invites fire departments, safety advocates, community groups, schools and others to rally behind a common and compelling theme. The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) and its partners will communicate and reinforce key lessons across many proven fire safety and prevention initiatives and programs.

The USFA recognizes the power of partnership as a critical means of marketing and delivering accurate and consistent safety messages into the community. "Fire is Everyone’s Fight" is based on social marketing research commissioned by the grassroots Vision 20/20 fire safety consortium with funding from an Assistance to Firefighters Grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. USFA is asking partners to use the "Fire is Everyone’s Fight" tagline with existing or new materials. Based on partner resources, they may implement a number of strategies, such as sharing information with staff, member organizations, community groups, and other stakeholders. By leveraging "Fire is Everyone’s Fight" resources, supporting dissemination or advertising efforts and encouraging state and local chapters to join in the initiative, the fire safety community can present a consistent, repetitive message that helps diverse members of our society take action to reduce their risk of fire. This includes support for public service announcement (PSA) placements, educational outreach to community organizations, local media relations activities and other activities.

My friends, there is a great deal going on in the world of fire prevention and life safety education. I would urge you to get involved. Your first step should be top go to the Vision 20/20 website at http://strategicfire.org. You might then go on to the Fire is Everybody’s Fight website at www.usfa.dhs.gov/fireiseveryonesfight.

Please take the time to make a difference.

HARRY R. CARTER, Ph.D., CFO, MIFireE, a Firehouse.com Contributing Editor, is a municipal fire protection consultant based in Adelphia, NJ. Dr. Carter retired from the Newark, NJ, Fire Department and is a past chief and active life member of the Adelphia Fire Company. Follow Harry on his "A View From my Front Porch" blog. You can reach Harry by e-mail at [email protected].