News

Community Risk Reduction Week to Take Place
Monday, January 20, 2020

Community Risk Reduction Week Every 24 seconds, a fire department in the United States responds to a fire somewhere in the nation, a fire occurs in a structure at the rate of one every 63 seconds, and a home fire occurs every 88 seconds. 77% percent of all fire deaths occurred in the home in 2017. Home fires were responsible for 10,600 civilian injuries and 72% of all civilian injuries in 2017. The fire service responds to a growing number of medical calls for service, surpassing 80% of total call volume in some jurisdictions. Community Risk Reduction is a data-informed process to identify and prioritize local risks, followed by integrated and strategic investment of resources to reduce their occurrence and impact The value of community support from local, state, and national partners to address community risks is recognized to meet the demands on paid, combination, and volunteer members of the fire service. The goal of Community Risk Reduction is to reduce the occurrence and impact of emergency events for both community members and emergency responders through deliberate action in the areas of the five E’s of Education, Engineering, Enforcement, Emergency response, and Economic incentive. Most fire-related and many medical calls for service are preventable, with the five E’s performed as part of an integrated Community Risk Reduction program. Monday, January 20, 2020 is Martin Luther King Day and is nationally recognized as a National Day of Service and an opportunity for communities to reduce the risk in their community through a series of educational and other programs. The week of January 20, 2020 be designated as CRR Week, a grassroots initiative of fire service professionals across the nation to raise awareness of the importance of CRR in the fire service community and an opportunity to make communities safer. The Delaware State Fire School partners with Vision 20/20, the U.S. Fire Administration, as well as others to reduce risks the our interaction with communities across the State.