CREATE A DEMAND FOR PREVENTION

Increase Advocacy for Fire Prevention in Your Community

Fire – A National Problem with a Local Face

“The devastation to lives and communities that results from fire is all the more tragic because much of it is preventable. Despite sincere commitment to reduce our nation’s fire losses by many organizations, agencies and individuals over many decades, our record of fire loss remains unacceptable. This is directly linked to the fact that our collective willingness to fund fire prevention efforts is simply insufficient. Prevention strategies can and do work. It is our hope that this Guide will provide the assistance you need to take the lead in your community to increase fire prevention efforts through advocacy.”

– Alan Perdue, International Association of Fire Chiefs, Fire & Life Safety Section

A Complete Fire Prevention Strategy

A community fire protection strategy should have these main components:

• Education – outreach to increase awareness of fire dangers and encourage safe behaviors
• Engineering – fire prevention and protection technology
• Economic Incentives – a strategy to create a financial incentive or disincentive to enhance fire safety (e.g. tax deduction for fire sprinkler systems, fines for fire code violations, etc.)
• Enforcement – fire safety mandates and an active, ongoing inspection process
• Emergency Response – a primary way to mitigate damage once fires occur

Together, these can and do help prevent tragic fire injury, death and loss. Aggressive and effective fire prevention efforts have been shown to have a great impact on the safety of communities. The key is creating a demand for local investment in fire prevention.