How many trucks does a fire incident require to safely contain an incident?  The Spokane Valley Fire Department (SVFD) is looking at that right now.  The current risk assessment is engaged in understanding the risks and responding appropriately.  Those risks effect both the community and the department when responding to a call for service.   The assessment will take into consideration the type of incident occurring, how many apparatus that call requires to safely contain, evacuate, provide medical care, and more to safely resolve the incident.  It also will consider, once apparatus are deployed to a call for service, the risk to the department with the remaining apparatus left in service should another call occur.  More clearly stated – how many trucks does an incident require and how many apparatus are needed to remain available for the remainder of the community should another call for service occur.

The SVFD is the only accredited fire department east of the Cascades.  Accreditation is a higher standard of practice that a fire department willingly chooses to implement within their organization.  It promotes excellence and encourages quality improvement, leading to higher service levels for citizens.  Accreditation is an impactful choice of a fire department in their commitment to serving their community.  Continuous improvement includes studying risk assessment and customer service to a community.

The Pacific Northwest Consortium for accredited fire departments is meeting in Spokane this week.  The consortium is made up of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Canadian departments that are accredited or in the process of becoming accredited by the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI).  These area agencies meet to analyze best practices nationwide and review application within their own agencies.

This week the consortium is in Spokane meeting at the SVFD Administration building to look at risk assessment.  Nationwide best practices will be evaluated and assessed for the deployment of apparatus in response to service calls.

This assessment will help determine how the SVFD can:

• Better utilize existing resources to best respond to the risks which exist in the SVFD District
• Deliver a higher level of service while being good stewards of the public’s resources
• Forecast and plan for future needs in regard to apparatus, facilities, and staffing
• Understand the risks in order to respond appropriately

For more information on SVFD Accreditation click here.