Community Risk Reduction

Dive into the world of Community Risk Reduction with an expert guest and hear about our new segment introduced in the latest episode of Fire Headlines by WFCA.

Community Risk Reduction

This month, Fire Headlines reached a benchmark of over 10,000 downloads. To celebrate, we introduced a new segment called “Dealer’s Choice,” where a panel member selects an article for discussion. Chief Jeff Buchanan is in the dealer’s seat this week and chose an article that was written by our very own Chief Bob Horton. This article brings to light the importance of Community Risk Reduction (CRR) efforts and the collective responsibility for minimizing risks in the communities served by the fire department. Fire Headlines host Samantha Didion joins the panel of Chiefs Bob Horton and Jeff Buchanan to speak with Meridian (ID) Fire Chief Kris Blume, an expert in CRR and instructor with the National Fire Academy (NFA), about the importance of CRR in the fire service.

Everyone’s Responsibility

This week’s article shares a short story of former President John F. Kennedy asking a janitor what his role in NASA was, to which the janitor replied “Mr. President, I’m helping to put a man on the moon.” This mindset is what our chiefs believe the fire service needs more of when it comes to CRR, especially the crews that will come face-to-face with the community the most. When CRR was first introduced into the fire service, many departments saw it as a rebrand of fire prevention, which our chiefs argue is not how it should be. It is the responsibility of the fire prevention office as well as the administrative team, the IT department, facilities management, and every other employee in the public service field.

Taking on an Upstream Approach

Chief Blume joins the conversation stating, “We are a victim of our traditionalism of our iconography. We are a response system. We pride ourselves in response,” he follows this by acknowledging this is a downstream approach. Firefighters are awarded based on the heroic response provided during an incident, but how does the fire service award the firefighters who are preventing the incident from happening in the first place? The issue lies in the ability to quantify it. Research and data need to be conducted and gathered to know the upstream efforts are effective, but this takes time, and instant gratification is lost.

Chief Blume shares that his fire department strategically integrates CRR in the recruitment academy by having the recruits study what it means to be a risk reduction practitioner rather than fighting fires the whole time. When a firefighter enters a home or business, they are trained to look for possible risks or the reduction of possible risks before leaving.

Contact Chief Blume at www.linkedin.com/in/kris-blume-38206724.

You can email Fire Headlines at [email protected].

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