BUILDING A FIRE SAFE AMERICA: THE CAMPAIGN FOR A STRONGER USFA

BUILDING A FIRE SAFE AMERICA: THE CAMPAIGN FOR A STRONGER USFA

PRESENTED BY: AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES (AFGE) LOCAL 1983, FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY,

NATIONAL EMERGENCY TRAINING CENTER, EMMITSBURG, MARYLAND, MARCH 13, 1988

INTRODUCTION

The Federal Emergency Management Agency`s (FEMA) Federal Fire Programs are administered and managed by the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA). The legislative mandate for the programs are Public Law (PL) 93-498, known as the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974. Fire and allied professionals continue to express concerns over the steady erosion of the Federal Fire Programs under FEMA`s leadership. The fact is the U.S. continues to have the second highest rate of fire deaths in the industrialized world.

This “Campaign for a Stronger USFA” presents facts and documentation about the persistent fire problem, the impact of the cuts in programs targeted at the problem and recommends strategies for building a fire safe America through a stronger USFA. It also focuses on the attention paid by FEMA to comparatively infrequent catastrophic disasters while ignoring the far greater losses from daily emergencies such as fires. This report contains but a sampling of evidence and examples of this inattention.

The document examines FEMA`s own words (in italics) from its Strategic Plan, called “Partnership for a Safer Future,” released on September 30, 1997, and the record of results and performance.

“The United States historically has had one of the highest fire loss rates of the industrialized world–both in fire deaths and dollar loss. Most fires are relatively small, and their cumulative impact is not easily recognized. However, the loss of life and property resulting from fire far exceeds that of all other natural disasters combined.”

FEMA fails to adequately address the devastating effects of America`s fire problem despite the fact that more Americans each year lose their lives due to fire than from all natural hazards combined; and the economic losses from fire far outweigh those of disasters.

The FEMA strategic plan and the budget requests to support it are well documented. They disclose critical information about the percentage of resources that the agency plans to make available for combating the fire problem. The FY99 request reveals that the USFA is scheduled to receive very few of the Agency`s resources.

In a March 1998 FEMA report to the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Capability Assessment for Readiness, it clearly states, “If the loss of life is taken as a measure of consequence, fires take more lives than all other hazards combined.” The Agency`s funding and resource priorities to date suggest that the loss of life due to fire does not represent such a measure.

The erosion of FEMA`s support for the Federal Fire Programs and its neglect of USFA programs has contributed to the increasing residential fire death rate since 1994.

As illustrated previously, civilian residential fire deaths increased 15% between 1994-1996. The cost of fire, moreover, is an astronomical $115-to-$154 billion annually, driving up the costs of health care and home/ health/ business insurance.

FEMA`s Strategic Plan also states:

5-Year Operational Objective: By the end of fiscal year 2002 (using data year 2000), reduce by 5% the rate of loss of life from fire and fire related hazards.

Congress, through the Government Performance and Results Act of 1996, required that all Federal agencies develop specific program performance objectives by which their success will be measured. If a program fails to achieve its objectives, its administering office is subject to elimination by Congress. FEMA is putting the USFA in jeopardy by its failure to support the USFA`s mission and intent of PL 93-498.

FEMA`s Federal Fire Programs are confronted with an increasing national fire problem, yet USFA spending priorities are directed away from target populations most affected by the problem. Given the upward trend of the fire problem, the reduction and redirection of USFA resources jeopardizes its ability to achieve FEMA`s GPRA goals for 2002.

USFA`S PROGRAMS

The Federal Fire Programs are symbolized by the four stars above “Hotfoot” (FEMA`s Federal Fire Programs emblem) the USFA seal: which represent: Public Education and Awareness; Data Collection and Analysis; Research and Safety (Technology); and Training and Education.

In addressing the status of the Federal Fire Programs, this portion of the document will identify specific program elements and the impacts that have lessened the USFA`s ability to respond to its mission and PL 93-498.

USFA Program: Public Education and Awareness

Public Law 93-498 Mandate: “U to educate the public and overcome public indifference as to fire and fire prevention … Efforts shall include programs to provide specialized information to those groups of individuals who are particularly vulnerable to fire hazards, such as the young and the elderly.”

Impact: A primary target audience for public fire education and awareness is clear from the data below: communities with populations of less than 2,500, children 0-to-9 years, seniors over 60, and blacks were those groups of people most affected by fire between 1991-95. Several initiatives (see box above) which help address this problem were eliminated or cut.

Unlike FEMA`s Flood Insurance Program, which has numerous paid advertisements placed on television and in national magazines, the efforts of the USFA to inform the public about fire safety receives minimal support from the Agency.

USFA Program: Data Collection and Analysis

Public Law 93-498 Mandate: “U selection, analysis, publication and dissemination of information … to provide an accurate nationwide analysis of the fire problem; identify major problem areas; assist in setting priorities; determine possible solutions to problems; and monitor the progress of programs to reduce fire losses.”

Impact: In the late 1970`s, the National Fire Data Center (NFDC) as one of three major components of the USFA was staffed at 35 positions. Today, the NFDC, as a result of zero-funding in the early 1980`s, a FEMA reduction in force (RIF) in the mid-1980`s, and FEMA hiring freezes in the 1990`s, has only 4 Full-Time Equivalents (FTE) assigned to the collection, analysis and dissemination of national fire data.

Impact: Inadequate resources have resulted in serious delays (8 years) in the development of the new NFIRS. These delays have negatively affected USFA`s credibility with Federal, State and local fire organizations and the private sector to manage a national fire reporting system.

FEMA will obligate $71 million or more for the development of the National Emergency Management Information System (NEMIS) database designed to capture Presidentially declared disaster data. Similar to NFIRS, NEMIS will collect data on the scope, costs and losses associated with disasters. FEMA has not committed personnel and financial resources for fire data collection commensurate with the scope of the problem given the disproportionate life and economic losses attributed to fire.

Because USFA cannot provide appropriate technical assistance, serious delays in obtaining data from States and major metropolitan fire departments occur. This impedes USFA`s ability to perform timely analysis of the data. Without funding to provide technical assistance for new NFIRS 5.0 implementation, it will be impossible to meet the mandate of PL 93-498.

FEMA resource and program cuts have effectively compromised, and in some cases eliminated, the NFDC`s ability to: provide an accurate nationwide analysis of the fire problem; identify major problem areas; assist in setting priorities for USFA; determine possible solutions to problems; and monitor the progress of USFA programs to reduce fire losses.

Without adequate information to base and measure decisions, USFA has no yardstick with which to determine the need for, and impact of, Federal fire prevention, research and training programs on the Nation`s fire problem. Additionally, the NFDC`s inability to provide a comprehensive analysis of the fire problem has affected the USFA`s credibility as a leader in the area of “fighting fire with facts.”

FEMA`s lack of stewardship for its Federal Fire Programs is apparent. NFDC`s inability to provide a comprehensive analysis of the fire problem has affected the USFA`s credibility as a leader in this arena, with organizations now looking to the National Fire Protection Association, Consumer Product Safety Commission or the National Center for Health Statistics for data on the fire problem.

USFA Program: Research and Safety (Technology)

Public Law 93-498 Mandate: “U Conduct a continuing program of development, testing, and evaluation of equipment for use by the Nation`s fire, rescue, and civil defense services, with the aim of making available improved suppression, protective, auxiliary, and warning devices incorporating the latest technology.”

Impact Residential Sprinkler Research. The evidence for the effectiveness of residential sprinklers in reducing property damage is dramatic. Nationally, average property loss in homes with sprinklers is 38% lower ($4,300) than homes without sprinklers ($6,900), according to a NFPA survey of home fires reported to fire departments from 1983-1992. This is also validated by research compiled by “Operation Life Safety” of the IAFC. Where communities have a great deal of experience with residential fire sprinklers the property loss reduction can be much higher. In Scottsdale, Arizona, where residential fire sprinklers are mandated, fire loss hit a ten-year low in 1992, despite nearly 30 percent population growth in the city in the previous decade. Since the implementation of the 1985 residential sprinkler ordinance in Scottsdale, fire loss has dropped by 84 percent. Scottsdale`s tracking data show that the average loss in a home with sprinklers in the city, since 1985, has been $2,665, while the figure for the average loss in a house without sprinklers is $17,067. Funding appropriated by Congress for both these research programs was reduced or eliminated internally within USFA between FY93-97.

USFA is on record with the Congress as stating that “residential sprinklers are the best proven technology for controlling fires and preventing loss of life.” Program cuts have resulted in this disturbing fact: USFA research into life-saving sprinkler technologies and residential application has all but ceased.

Firefighter Health and Safety Research

The rate of firefighter injuries per 1,000 fires has not dropped significantly over the past 10 years. Neglecting research into life-saving occupational technologies runs counter to USFA`s mission to work to save firefighter lives and reduce injuries. In recent years, USFA programs and research designed to reduce firefighter injuries has not had the sustained significant impact on the problem nationally. Reducing or reallocating monies from programs, which address this problem, suggests that firefighter health and safety is a low priority for USFA.

Neglecting the Research and Safety “star,” and the programs which support it, runs counter to USFA`s mission to save lives and reduce injuries (both civilian and firefighter) and property losses due to fire. Specifically, cutting residential sprinkler technology research directly affects USFA`s ability to achieve FEMA`s 5% strategic objective.

USFA Program: Training and Education

Public Law 93-498 Mandate: “U The purpose of the Academy shall be to advance the professional development of fire service personnel and of other persons engaged in fire prevention and control activities … to develop and revise curricula … conduct courses and programs of training and education.”

Impact: Fire and emergency response organizations are moving into the twenty-first century without adequate support from the Federal agency responsible for improving national performance measures affected by their work. Their roles have expanded dramatically in the past 20 years. Technological changes in every aspect of their community service delivery, increased involvement in life-safety planning and all-hazards risk reduction, response to the increasing need for public awareness and fire suppression methods and technologies are daily challenges for fire service personnel. Each of these areas of sweeping change has led to new training responsibilities for the National Fire Academy (NFA). There is a demand for increased access to NFA training, particularly for hazardous materials, emergency medical services and counter-terrorism. These increased demands led to the creation of the Regional Delivery Program in 1992, which had earmarked congressional funds.

Now under discussion is a new Distance Delivery Initiative (DDI) with an announced goal of reaching 300,000 students annually by the year 2000. DDI is not linked to an overall strategic plan that addresses any training need or aspects of the national fire problem.

In sum, the demands on NFA have increased while its staff levels have decreased.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BUILDING A FIRE SAFE AMERICA

FEMA/USFA lacks an operational strategic plan for how it will accomplish the business of reducing this Nation`s fire problem. Program direction, organizational structures and resource allocations are rarely decided or measured against any goal, plan, purpose or benchmark. Twenty-five years after the issuance of America Burning, the report that defined the fire problem, its causes and the solutions, America still burns.

Strategic Recommendations: FEMA/USFA

1. FEMA must aggressively call for a Presidential/Congressional Commission. The Commission should conduct nationwide hearings on the future direction of the federal fire focus: to reexamine Public Law 93-498 and to develop a new vision and legislation for the 21st century.

2. FEMA must empower USFA to take a preeminent and substantial role in reducing the impact of fire on the Nation.

3. Restore the confidence of the USFA staff in FEMA`s ability to support the Agency`s fire and emergency services mission through strategic planning and leadership.

4. Given that the fire services are the nation`s only community-based mitigation/prevention group, FEMA must acknowledge and integrate their work into the Agency`s Strategic Plan.

5. As the fire services serve as the backbone of the nation`s emergency management community, FEMA must ensure that they become recipients of federal funding to accomplish the implementation of the Federal Emergency Management Agency`s Strategic Plan.

6. FEMA must include the United States Fire Administration in a leadership position within Federal Emergency Management Agency`s mission.

Program Recommendations

Public Fire Education and Awareness

1. Provide $2.5 million annually for grants to assist States and local governments to build partnerships with community-based organizations, schools, churches, health care providers and business and industries to work with local fire departments to reach the identified target populations.

2. Reinstate adequate funding and staff resources for all the initiatives cited in the Public Education and Awareness section of the report.

3. Provide adequate funding and staff resources necessary to implement the USFA report, Overcoming Barriers in Public Fire Education for the Year 2000, which reflects the recommendations of major constituency groups in the public fire education and awareness field.

Research and Safety (Technology)

1. Research and development (R&D) funding sufficient to solve the fire problem in America:

R&D to address known shortfalls in fire suppression fire detection and fire notification technologies now affecting Americans at home and at the workplace. Fire related death rates, injury, and property losses continue to reflect this shortfall. A meaningful program at the Federal level, addressing problems in partnerships with the private and other public sector organizations requires $4 million and 3 FTE in order to meet constituency needs.

2. R&D to provide superior protective clothing and equipment to America`s first responders who are the first to respond to emergencies such as: structural and other kinds of fires; hazardous materials incidents; search and rescue incidents; emergency medical services incidents; and terrorism incidents. A successful effort in this area requires $1.5 million and 2 FTE.

Data Collection and Analysis

1. Dedicate resources for the development and maintenance of ADP systems related to the collection and analysis of fire data at a comparable level to those dedicated to the development/maintenance of systems related to natural hazards. This will better enable USFA to produce a timely, accurate and complete data set for analysis of all incidents to which fire departments respond and will support Project Impact through the identification of communities at high levels of risk from these incidents, including fires, natural disasters and other local emergencies.

Provide $5 million in FY99 ($1 million annually thereafter) and 1 full-time employee (FTE) Computer Specialist to complete development of the new National Fire Incident Reporting System (New NFIRS 5.0) and provide for system enhancements identified by users after implementation.

2. Provide technical assistance to States and metropolitan fire departments to:

a) better enable the collection of accurate, timely, complete and uniform NFIRS data upon which focused prevention and training programs, and fire protection and occupational technologies, can be developed and assessed to combat the fire problem with all appropriate public and private sector partnerships; and

b) increase the level of NFIRS program participation nationally to capture a more accurate and comprehensive view of fire losses.

Provide $2.5 million in FY99 ($250,000 annually thereafter) for grants and technical assistance to both participating and non-participating States and metropolitan fire departments for the implementation of the new NFIRS.

3. Restore the capability of the National Fire Data Center to not only collect fire data, but also provide an accurate nationwide analysis of the fire problem and disseminate fire data to State and local organizations for use in the development and assessment of their prevention, training and technology programs.

Provide $1 million annually and 3 FTE for the aggregation, analysis and dissemination of fire data from a variety of sources, including the new NFIRS.

Training and Education

To meet NFA`s immediate, short-term and critical needs while awaiting the recommendations of the commission, immediate action is required on the following:

1. Provide increased classroom and bed space for NFA training at the National Emergency Training Center.

2. Augment the existing staff and program budget by l0% (4 FTE`s and $600,000) to support NFA residential and off-campus initiatives.

3. Reinstitute the Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA), to allow State and local fire service professionals to come on loan to USFA.

4. Fund a modern simulation center capable of supporting training on the technological challenges to be faced in the 21st century.

5. Provide adequate funding and staff resources for all the initiatives cited in the Training and Education section of this report. n