The Tempe (Ariz.) Fire Department became a career department nearly a half century ago. Previously, the city was served by a very dedicated group of volunteer firefighters. But the rapid growth that began in the late 1950s caused the city's leaders to move toward a career department, which occurred in January 1961 with 11 paid people starting work. Volunteers supported the department's response activities for another decade. Today, the department is organized into three divisions, including fire prevention and public safety education, emergency services, and administrative services. Each division is headed by an assistant fire chief. Deputy chiefs oversee specific operational areas, including medical services; training and professional development; special operations; and support services. Three deputy chiefs serve as district managers, providing leadership for all department members assigned to emergency services and operating from fire stations.

The department responds annually to about 18,500 emergency calls, with about 75% of those being medical in nature.

In 2009 the department added one fire company/heavy-rescue unit, which includes 18 additional department members and which involves two major pieces of fire apparatus being assigned to one crew. They respond to most incidents in a standard fire/rescue pumper, and respond to specialty incidents in the heavy-rescue vehicle. A replacement 100-foot platform truck and a second ladder tender also were placed into service. (A ladder tender is a unit housed with a ladder truck that the crew uses to respond to incidents that do not require the larger ladder truck, such as most emergency medical calls.)

This summer the department will be taking delivery of a new fire pumper — designed in cooperation with Rosenbauer Firefighting Technology — that was intended to significantly reduce purchasing cost, improve fuel efficiency, reduce emissions and provide the full array of standard engine company services.

In early 2010, the city council awarded a contract for design and construction of a new support-services facility, which will include a section for vehicle preventative maintenance and repair, a warehouse and a self-contained-breathing-apparatus maintenance-and-repair center. Completion of the facility will pave the way for construction of a new Fire Station No. 2, which is the city's oldest fire station, having been built in 1972. Its replacement will significantly upgrade working conditions for members at that station.

Two members were promoted to assistant fire chief and two members were promoted to deputy chief last year. The fire chief retired at the end of March 2010 and Asst. Fire Chief Mark Simmons was appointed to the position.

For more than 20 years, the department has used a strategic-planning process that has served it well. It not only is a planning tool and informational resource for policy-makers, but it also provides a continuous budgetary measuring stick regarding the department's future needs. In addition, a new citywide leadership program includes goal-setting and planning components that the department will be examining in the near future; such components may better support a contemporary approach to planning, and at the same time integrate more effectively with the accreditation self-assessment process.

In October 2009, the city of Tempe's fire defenses were evaluated by the Insurance Services Office using the Public Protection Classification Review. The results of that evaluation recently were released and the city retained a Class 2 classification. The results of the 2007 Commission on Fire Accreditation International's (CFAI) Self-Assessment and Peer Review and those of the ISO Public Protection Classification Review have striking parallels. Review of both reports show that they support each other in terms of identifying strengths and weaknesses, and both will serve the department well as it operates in the current economic climate.

Recently, the Center for Public Safety Excellence (CPSE) conducted an interview with Chief Cliff Jones, as Tempe was the alpha test site for the accreditation model, and was one of the first five departments in the world to become accredited.

What does being internationally accredited mean to you?

It means that our department has taken advantage of the opportunity to review all aspects of our organizational philosophy, direction, operation and plans for improvement. The most critical aspect of accreditation is the self-assessment phase, which has served as an excellent continuous-improvement tool, as well as a professional-development tool for those involved in doing the evaluation work and compiling the report. It also means that an assigned peer-assessment team of four fire service professionals with the Commission on Fire Accreditation International not only carefully reviewed the document, but spent three full days looking at every aspect of the department's operation — and only then concurred that the Tempe Fire Department is a credible agency.

What was the biggest challenge toward initially achieving accreditation?

We had a small advantage being among the first because we knew what we were dealing with, as we had served as the alpha test site for the program. But once the alpha test was completed, almost two years went by before beta testing was done and the program became "open for business." The alpha testing generated many of the updates to the model that was put out in 1997, so we felt like we needed to go through the entire process again. That was the greatest challenge, but we made significant organizational improvements within the department during those two years, which better positioned us to become accredited.

Where has the accreditation process made a difference in your agency?

I think our biggest operational difference is the implementation of a risk-assessment system. Our entire standard-of-cover process and emergency deployment is governed by the risk in our community. Doing a comprehensive risk assessment can be an eye-opener, and I believe that there are many departments that do not have a complete handle on the amount and type of risk for which they are responsible. Having been an early participant, the accreditation model has enhanced our ability to evaluate ourselves and associated systems, which is the biggest administrative difference. The experience of going through this process a total of four times to this point has made a significant and positive difference for us operationally and administratively.

What makes Tempe a credible organization?

Outstanding people, strong support, positive labor/management relations and good systems. We have been fortunate in being able to attract high-caliber people to our department and to promote people who work day in and day out to make us better. We have been fortunate also in receiving strong support from city management, the mayor and the city council, all of whom have a sincere desire to have a strong fire department. The Tempe Firefighters Union has a history of working to make the department better and has been supportive of our accreditation efforts. We have excellent systems both internally and externally of the city. Top-flight working relationships with city departments such as police, water and public works — along with all valley fire departments in the region's automatic-aid program — also are reasons why we are credible.

How does that fit within the context of accreditation?

Accreditation is about describing what it is that you do, assessing how effectively you do it and then planning the future for each item examined. This entire process cannot be accomplished without good people. Next you need an operational system that is built on cooperation with other agencies that support your mission. You need credible staffing, adequate facilities, good apparatus and equipment, a strong focus on safety and training — and a vision for the future for all of these in order to fit within the context of accreditation.

How has the economic decline impacted Tempe's accredited status?

While we have been able to move forward with hiring the approved staffing for a new engine/heavy rescue company, we have recently lost some other positions through attrition. We are in the constant position of having to figuring out how to maintain service levels while reducing costs. Fortunately, we have good data upon which to base such decisions on. This is required by the accreditation process and city management understands this. In addition, we have introduced a computerized training program — dubbed Target Safety — department-wide, which we feel will help us to address many facets of our training responsibilities and at the same time do a better job of tracking training accomplishments.

What additional workload has the accreditation process created for the department?

Accreditation is work; there is no way around this. The more you work on accreditation, the more you realize that you are positioning your department for the future, and that brings a degree of satisfaction from the work being done. But 90% of the work, at the very least, is the work that senior city management and policy-makers assume we are doing anyway. They expect us to do program management, assessment and planning, and related types of work to professionally manage and lead the department, and to be knowledgeable about the level of performance at which we carry out our responsibilities. This is exactly what the accreditation process requires, so I don't consider it additional work. The self-assessment process helps us to meet the expectations of city management, the mayor, the city council and the community at large.

What is the greatest challenge towards maintaining accreditation?

The continuous governmental concern about how deep we could cut funding for public safety in light of current economic conditions. For example, there was significant discussion about the number of fire inspectors we could cut. However, the accreditation self-assessment document that was already in place provided us the information that we needed to make this decision. We used this extensively in the budget process, reminding people of our best-practice performance expectations, our plans for the future, and the fact that we were accredited on this performance. If we cut our service delivery below industry best practice — or below our own performance objectives — then we risked losing this level of credibility. Another vital point to mention is that, like any of the organizations that it evaluates, the accreditation model is a work in progress. It is continuously improving and is a better tool today than it was in 1997 when we were first accredited.

Is achieving international accreditation worth the cost?

What you put financially into accreditation is minuscule. The soft finances (people's time) are greater, but they should be doing this work anyway. The real question is, How serious are you about completing a comprehensive assessment of everything that you do? I've seen what some departments will pay a consultant to do this work and the cost of accreditation is a fraction of that cost. Moreover, the results are more accurate, more detailed and better related to our department than what a third-party review would generate. If completing a comprehensive assessment that helps you to identify weaknesses and develop improvement plans is important to you, then the accreditation process has your name written all over it. But if maintaining the status quo is all that is important, then you should contemplate where you are before you make the decision to begin self-assessment for accreditation. Maintaining the status quo is a very dangerous position for a 21st-century fire department.

What is the department's current vision?

We will continually strive to adapt to changing community needs, improve our capability, take good care of our members, and be a financially sustainable organization that continues to provide superior levels of service to citizens and visitors. The challenge for all of us is to realize that we are in the 21st century. We must contemplate the many additional responsibilities — and the scope of those responsibilities — that have been thrust upon our fire departments in recent years. Then we must ask ourselves whether our departments are there with us and are really up to the challenge. That is difficult to know, with a reasonable degree of certainty, sans a carefully crafted examination of everything that we do. This is where the Commission on Fire Accreditation International comes in. It is a well thought-out program, is very comprehensive and is completed by the people who know your agency the best — which are the people who work there. Evaluate your department, determine how effective you are, and make a plan for the future. It's been said that the best way to plan for the future is to create it, and accreditation may well be your best way to do just that.

Through the CFAI model, the Tempe Fire Department has demonstrated that it is a credible organization that meets or exceeds industry best practices. You can experience the same benefits. Visit www.publicsafetyexcellence.org to review upcoming workshops in your area.

To receive the current Fire and Emergency Services Self-Assessment manual — or to become a registered agency and have access to CFAI tools, templates and newsletters — select the "forms and applications" link on the Web site. The self-assessment process is a great tool to assess your current performance and develop tangible plans for improvement.

Rick Black is program manager for the Commission on Fire Accreditation International.

Snapshot: Tempe FD

• Career department since 1961.
• Internationally accredited since 1995.
• Operates six fire stations.
• Serves a population of 175,000.
• Service area is considered to be 100% urban.
• Service area covers 40 square miles.
• Service area includes Arizona State University, the nation's largest university, which adds 50,000 students to the population.

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