| Recommendation 77. Conduct a community risk assessment to inform the work plan of the Community Risk Reduction SectionEfficiency Study Implementation Plan |
Description |
The Department tracks all emergency incidents using its records management system based on the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS). As such, a wealth of information about the Department’s historical workload profile is available. However, this data is not being used to guide the work of the Department.
Understanding the community and its incident history is the first step toward adopting a community risk reduction approach. A community risk assessment involves identifying and prioritizing risks in order to plan prevention and mitigation activities. According to the Institute of Fire Engineers,[1] it is important to first review the community demographic profile and historical experience to identify risks and hazards. The next step involves prioritizing the identified risks. The final step is to use the results of the assessment to inform the Department’s work plan.
The Fire Prevention Division is currently completing a community risk assessment to guide the Department’s community risk reduction activities as part of the reaccreditation process. Once the community risk assessment has been completed, the results should be used to develop the work plan of the Division in the short term and the Department as a whole in the long term.
[1] Community Risk Assessment: A Guide for Conducting a Community Risk Assessment. http://strategicfire.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Community-Risk-Assessment-Guide-v1.5.pdf
Status | |
The Community Risk Assessment and Standards of Response Coverage document was completed in May 2017 as part of the CFAI Accreditation process. The fire department was awarded Accredited Agency Status in July of 2017.
In the fall of 2017 the Department reclassified a vacant, sworn position and created a civilian Systems Performance Analyst position. This person methodically analyzes risk and response data and works directly with the DC of Operations and the Community Risk Reduction staff to continually refine and improve our risk assessment and response strategies.
In June 2018, the Systems Performance Analyst led an effort as part of Charlottesville Civic Innovation Day to leverage the talents of the local technology community to further refine our community risk assessment modeling process. Robust and continual conversations about a risk assessment model and work toward creating an automated one resulted from that momentum.
Analysis of housing and demographic data found to be statistically significant in past city fires using machine learning informed neighborhoods that were the focus of the 2019 Sound the Alarm smoke alarm canvass.
The risk assessment model is also currently being used to drive the development of company-level inspections of commercial and industrial properties in the city.
Owner(s) |
Charlottesville Fire Department
Gantt Chart |