Community Involvement and Outreach for Fire Departments
Firefighters must show the public what our organizations represent, and that means directly engaging with the people we serve.
community relations
The Latest
Engine Company EMS: Embracing the Public
Sometimes the travails of the job can foster and "us-vs.-them" mentality between firefighters and civilians. Mike Morse on embracing the public we are sworn to protect.
They Voted Us Down: Push Back by Increasing Your Community Visibility
Tim Doran uses his fire department’s own experience with a political setback to inform readers of how to best handle opposition to a presumably bulletproof plan.
The Fire Officer’s Guide to the Tough Community Questions, Part 9
In Part 9 of his series, Mark Wallace asks, "How do we (or can we) keep our employees out of local political elections?"
More community relations
The Fire Officer’s Guide to the Tough Community Questions, Part 8
Mark Wallace discusses the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and paying firefighters a regular hourly rate.
The Fire Officer’s Guide to the Tough Community Questions, Part 8
In the third part of Mark Wallace's subseries on Part 8, he asks, "Is your department properly budgeting the salary of our shift personnel?"
The Fire Officer’s Guide to the Tough Community Questions, Part 8
Is our department properly budgeting the salary of our shift personnel? Mark Wallace looks at another tough question fire officers might face from the community.
The Fire Officer’s Guide to the Tough Community Questions, Part 7
Mark Wallace asks, Why does the fire department have such high overtime costs and why do they exceed the amount allocated for overtime in the fire department’s approved budget?
Tough Community Questions: A Firefighter Tests Positive for Marijuana
Mark Wallace asks: What are you going to do when a firefighter tests positive for marijuana in a world of legal, recreation, and medical marijuana use?
Why Do We Need a New Fire Station?
In Part 5 of his series, Mark Wallace examines some answers to the questions of: When and Why Do We Need to Build Another Fire Station?
The Fire Officer’s Guide to the Tough Community Questions, Part 3
Every residence in your community should be equipped with a properly operating fire alarm. The tough part of this question is how to make that happen, writes Mark Wallace.
The Fire Officer’s Guide to the Tough Community Questions, Part 2
Mark Wallace writes, If our fire prevention efforts are properly funded, continued, and effectively applied, we can positively impact—but never achieve—100-percent success at fire prevention within our communities.