We in the fire service face hundreds, if not thousands, of decisions every year. Some must be made at the time of a crisis, such as those an incident commander makes on the fireground.

But most decisions are made under far less stressful conditions. They have to do with budget issues, personnel matters and program management, to name a few. Many of these decisions have far greater consequences than those that occur on the fireground.

An interesting aspect of these decisions is that fire service managers often don't have a chance to revisit them. Most decisions are based on previous ones, with the net result being that organizations tend to evolve over time without re-evaluating the basic reasons why they could or should be doing things.

One way to change that is through conducting the self-assessment portion of the fire service accreditation process. To be accredited or not to be? That is the question, but it isn't William Shakespeare speaking. It's the contemporary fire service wondering how to ensure its future.

The Commission on Fire Accreditation International has been in existence for close to 20 years. While it started off as an IAFC task force, it has evolved into a private, non-profit organization designed to see that firefighting agencies have a place to go when determining how well they are achieving their missions, goals and objectives.

The CFAI is based on an important and straightforward concept: the idea of self-assessment. This is where every individual firefighting agency comes into play in deciding to use this concept … or not. “To be or not to be” involves taking the first step in conducting a critical analysis of how things are done within your organization. In short, self-assessment is the goal for improving fire department performance. Accreditation is not a goal. It is a reward.

The CFAI recently published its first complete strategic plan. It took about five years to develop enough of an infrastructure and framework to determine if this concept was going to continue into the future. One of the best ways to determine whether the organization has viability is to check its vital signs. For example, there have been management consultants around for years telling fire departments how they should go about doing their business, but when the CFAI went into business there were no firefighting agencies allowed to refer to themselves as “accredited.”

By the end of last year, the CFAI had worked with 84 agencies that had achieved accreditation. Moreover, 207 “registered” agencies have become part of the information exchange network. There are currently 27 applicant departments due to achieve accreditation in the next 12 to 18 months.

To consider itself a success, the task force's original goal was for 100 fire departments nationwide to achieve the professional recognition of accreditation within five years and for 500 firefighting agencies to become part of the system within 10 years. It looks like the CFAI could be given a B⁺.

However, that's only part of the story. The CFAI has provided many more individuals and organizations with tools with which they can engage in self-improvement without necessarily seeking accreditation. For example, the CFAI has produced the Self-Assessment Manual that can be used by any firefighting agency to evaluate their various activities. Requesting a manual isn't a commitment in any way; the system is totally voluntary. Hundreds of firefighting agencies have acquired the manual and are using its components to perform research and provide staff reports that are resulting in improved fire protection.

Other CFAI accomplishments over the last eight years include the development of Creating & Evaluating Standards of Response Cover. Working in combination with the Public Entity Risk Institute, the CFAI has created this manual to assist fire departments in establishing deployment analysis criteria. This information is based on research conducted in hundreds of fire departments over 15 years.

In support of standards of cover research, the CFAI also published the software program RHAVE for Risk, Hazard and Value Evaluation. Thousands of copies have been distributed to firefighting agencies all over the world. This software helps them translate their prefire planning information, fire prevention occupancy records and other data into meaningful tables and charts to describe the types and variety of risks. This project was conducted in cooperation with the USFA.

Also, in cooperation with the Environmental Systems Research Institute, the CFAI instituted a training program, “Mapping the Future of Fire,” to bring the basics of Geographic Information Systems technology to more than 500 firefighting agencies. ESRI and CFAI have distributed 25 sets of ArcView software, which allows agencies to develop more comprehensive information for both risk management and deployment analysis.

From a perspective of achieving its initial goal of providing self-assessment tools and techniques to fire departments, the CFAI's report card looks good. Of course, more projects will be conducted by the commision to add to that toolbox over time. For example, the CFAI is now experimenting with computer technology and virtual-reality training to improve the ability of fire departments to evaluate fire prevention activities.

To make all of this information widely available and more understandable to the fire service, CFAI holds a variety of training programs, including an annual workshop in cooperation with Fire-Rescue International, the IAFC's annual conference. During such events multiple classes are offered that explain how to use the materials described earlier.

The CFAI also has begun establishing contractual relationships with several state fire chiefs associations to bring training and education to more of the fire service. The purpose of such arrangements is to authorize individual states to deliver the curriculum at the local level, which reduces the cost of the fire departments to participate. The CFAI is signing a contract with the Oregon State Fire Chiefs Association, and it recently met with the New York State Fire Chiefs Association with the intention of signing a contract in the very near future.

The CFAI is always reaching out to establish partnerships with any and all organizations interested in improving the quality fire protection services. One of the more long-range implications of this process has been the establishment of a memorandum of understanding with the Insurance Services Office. The ISO's evaluation document has much in common with the CFAI's self-assessment manual, as does the International City/County Management Association's Performance Measurement Consortium. In other words, there are multiple aspects to evaluating a contemporary fire department. Members of these groups are developing a workbook that would cross-reference these three methods of fire department evaluation.

Finally, the commission has embraced another program, the Commission on Chief Fire Officer Designation, that's part of the fire service's self-improvement process. This first nationally recognized program of identifying minimum skills for chief officers followed the CFAI model: A task force was created by the IAFC to develop the program, a beta test was conducted and the resulting program was handed to the CFAI Board of Implementation.

The CFOD program has undergone several transitions to match up with the needs of the contemporary fire service. As of this writing, there are more than 325 nationwide who have qualified to wear the symbol of Chief Fire Officer Designation as part of their uniforms. Another 33 are awaiting the commission's review this spring If we could go back in time to discuss the origins of the self-assessment accreditation process, it's very likely that the conversation would have contained elements of cynicism. There were a lot of reasons why the process was unlikely to succeed. Among these was the very simple fact that it's very hard to achieve consensus in the fire service on how to lead and manage firefighting agencies. However, by continuing to conform to the idea that self-assessment and continuous improvement were the program's main goals, it became easier for the fire service to accept the model.

Today the system is on the verge of achieving its original set of goals. As I discussed the success of the program with departments going through the accreditation process, I've heard many answers to the question, “Why should anybody do it in the first place?” The reasons given are not unlike the ones that were there from the day the program was created:

• It's a success-planning tool.
• It's useful in handing over a fire agency during a transition between leaders.
• It helps manage the strategic issues of a firefighting agency.

It's clear that departments which undertake self assessment benefit from incremental improvements over time. They can better provide justification and explanation for program activities to a wide range of potential customer bases. As more firefighting agencies choose to engage in self-assessment processes, there will be change in the fire service. Self assessment is designed to make that change as rational and as consistent with the way we would like our firefighting agencies to turn out as possible.

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A 40-year veteran of the fire service, Ronny J. Coleman has served as fire chief in Fullerton and San Clemente, Calif., and was the state fire marshal of California from 1992 to 1999. He is a certified fire chief and a master instructor in the California Fire Service Training and Education System. A Fellow of the Institution of Fire Engineers, he has an associate's degree in fire science, a bachelor's degree in political science and a master's degree in vocational education.

For More Info

The CFAI Self-Assessment Manual can be purchased for $200, www.cfainet.org.

The Creating & Evaluating Standards of Response Cover CD-ROM can be purchased from the CFAI for $9.95, www.cfainet.org.

The RHAVE (Risk, Hazard and Value Evaluation) software can be downloaded for free from www.rhave.com.