Fire Chief

By Jordan D. Pollack

Last year, FIRE CHIEF published two articles on fire-prevention programs in Great Britain and Scandinavia. Both articles portrayed well the emphasis in those countries on fire prevention versus suppression. We, as a community of fire chiefs, must take that information and seriously reassess our priorities. Because the U.S. fire service is community- and jurisdiction-based and not nationalized, it is up to each of us to drive this campaign.

I still remember vividly growing up in the 1960s in New Haven, Conn., and watching as Engine 8’s crew went door to door doing home fire inspections and passing out fire-safety information. I remember the men standing on the tailboard, poised in their tan slacks and light-blue uniform shirts, ready to spread the gospel of fire and life-safety like neighborhood missionaries.

Some 40 years later in my third job as a chief, I sit at my desk putting together yet another community fire-prevention program. I look at our fire service — the glamour, lights, excitement and heroics — and am amazed by how much we chiefs are so focused on crisis management and not prevention. It comes as no great surprise that the general public is caught up in the same thinking. The average American citizen focuses little on fire safety unless one of three things happens: their child brings home information from school, they have an unfortunate encounter with fire, or the fire services bring them information directly.

We are long overdue to start thinking outside of the box. Most fire departments today, whether volunteer or career, have some sort of fire-prevention program in place. The most common is to have a prevention division of sorts, which in any career department is largely focused on code enforcement and plan review — it is often a forgotten child to the suppression wing, which receives the glory and funding. Most larger city departments include company-level fire inspections where firefighters do walk-through inspections of businesses to promote fire safety. This is an excellent tool on numerous levels promoting not only fire safety and education but also public relations and familiarity with occupancies for firefighter safety and effectiveness during an incident. This is an excellent step in the right direction, but it needs to be expanded to homes, apartment complexes and all occupancies.

During a trip to the National Fire Academy as a peer grant reviewer, I listened as then–Acting Administrator of the U.S. Fire Administration Charlie Dickenson spoke about fire prevention in the fire service. He commended the 100 or so folks in the auditorium for assisting with the prevention grant program. Then he went on to discuss how the fire service is still expending more energy on new equipment and vehicles than on prevention. Some 2,900 applications were received in 2007 for the Fire Prevention Grant Program. Concurrently, 21,000 applications were received for fire equipment and vehicle requests through the Assistance to Firefighter Grant Program. That statistic is staggering. How is it that we, a community-oriented network of caring professionals, are not putting more energy into fire- and life-safety prevention?

I met with Charlie later that week to discuss the current state of affairs in fire prevention. He said that there is no real movement afoot within the fire service. We are still focused on response, and that responsibility is becoming more elaborate with each decade. We are still obsessed with the toys that continue to expand in their complexity and cost, newer and fancier gadgetry commanding our attention. Many of us know that four well-trained firefighters with an older, working engine can outperform a crew with newer, fancier equipment and lesser training. As I reviewed numerous grants at the National Fire Academy that week, I read time after time “…after wages, vehicle maintenance, equipment … there is little funding left for fire prevention education, thus we are requesting federal funding for … .” As fire chiefs, we are still not prioritizing fire- and life-safety education in our budget justifications to our governing bodies.

How many chiefs have programs in place that involve going door to door to do home fire inspections and outreach? How many of us are giving priority to our prevention officers who are tirelessly educating and enforcing? Are there more than a few of us standing strong behind a goal of every occupancy in the jurisdiction having a minimum of one working smoke alarm? How many of us are doing aggressive campaigns with our elders on home fire and accident prevention? I would guess that a number of volunteer based departments in our country are succeeding at this. But I can’t help but wonder if the fire community could also do similar in our cities’ low income housing areas as well. How difficult would it be to refocus our energies and get our engine companies to begin door-to-door campaigns in our cities as well as our smaller towns and villages? Look at wiring, smoke detectors, heaters, candles and other potential fire hazards, bringing our focus into the homes of our constituents before it’s too late. How many of us are truly getting into our residents’ homes – either literally or through written and visual information? Even a simple home fire safety brochure under the door can have a huge impact. Checkout the Toronto Fire Service home fire safety brochure; it is an excellent model of a simple and effective brochure. The London Fire Brigade goes door to door educating its residents about fire and life safety. They have figured out a proactive approach: get out and meet and educate.

In some cases, this may become a union question, but at some level this is simply a management issue. Former Phoenix Fire Chief Alan Brunacini set a precedent by showing that union issues can be dealt with most effectively by inviting staff and management to sit together to develop the goals and objectives of the fire department. I would hope that our nation’s career personnel would jump at the opportunity to heighten public awareness of fire safety in their customers’ homes and businesses. With the mission of maintaining the health and wellness of our communities being paramount, this would seem to make some sense.

Should not the International Association of Fire Chiefs and International Association of Fire Fighters be working hand in hand, alongside the U.S. Fire Administration and the National Fire Protection Association to promote fire safety education? Of course this happens, to a degree, but it is high time that we all begin aggressively working together to attack the problem. Getting our nation’s firefighters (volunteer and career) on the streets and sidewalks is paramount in the campaign. If chiefs don’t take advantage of this valuable and massive resource, we are missing the boat, and more importantly, under-serving our community. It is our responsibility and mission to change the culture of the fire service, maintaining our readiness to respond, while focusing on the primary mission of fire, injury, and illness prevention

There is a wealth of support out there to develop and maintain an effective, ongoing campaign focused on fire safety and preventative healthcare for your constituents. If you are not doing so already, make it happen; chiefs hold the trump card on this one.

Jordan D. Pollack is chief of the Breitenbush (Ore) Fire Department.