Why a Community Fire Saftey Coalition

Community Fire Safety Operational Guide Community Fire Safety Coalition

Why a Community Fire Safety Coalition

What Is a Coalition?

A coalition is a union of people and organizations working to influence outcomes on a specific problem. Coalitions are useful for accomplishing a broad range of goals that reach beyond the capacity of any individual organization.

A coalition is an alliance among individuals or groups, during which they cooperate in joint action, joining forces together for a common cause. This alliance may be temporary or a matter of convenience. A coalition thus differs from a more formal covenant.

A coalition is the bringing together of individuals and groups in support of an issue.

Regardless of the definition variances, the goal of this module is to form a Community Fire Safety Coalition.

Why Form a Coalition?

Fire safety coalitions are useful in addressing fire safety education issues that may be too large for the fire department to address on its own. The strengths of a coalition include bringing together individuals and organizations with diverse backgrounds and experiences to address the fire safety concerns of the entire community. The knowledge and expertise of all members can be put to use in seeking solutions. This coalition, working with the local fire department, can maximize available resources to accomplish the task at hand.

The goal of your Community Fire Safety Coalition is “to promote fire safety education for your citizens while identifying strategies to help eliminate and prevent fire risk and disasters that may impact the community.”

The fire department organized as a reactive response needed to combat fires as they happened. Through the years the department’s roles expanded to include inspections, prevention and education and many other areas. The fire department continues to do as much as possible to help a community become educated in fire safety. However, creating a Community Fire Safety Coalition brings members of the community together with the common goal of promoting fire safety education and being involved in something that truly makes a difference. The coalition has “buy in” and opens doors for opportunities to educate from a wider perspective.

The need for a Community Fire Safety Coalition is important as it can bridge any disconnect between the fire department and the community. The disconnect can be as simple as educating the community on what the department functions are, to becoming involved in what the department does. The fire department needs to be active and purposeful in their communities. Just because a department has a low call volume doesn’t mean the job stops there.

Regardless of the size of your community, the Community Fire Safety Coalition is one of the most important and positive steps a department can take toward educating their community. Be involved, and encourage others to be involved in the education of your community.