Fire departments across the country are experiencing cutbacks in staffing, purchasing and training dollars. Many of these cuts will come from fire-safety programming. But even busy fire chiefs can find low-cost ideas for creating and/or maintaining a successful fire-safety program.

Here are six easy steps to create a successful fire-safety program, along with some proven budget-conscious ideas worth consideration.

Step 1: Make fire-safety education an organizational priority

Is fire prevention included in the organization's mission statement? It should be. Including fire prevention in the department's mission statement demonstrates that it is an integral, valid and required part of the organization's purpose.

Organizations that include fire prevention as a tenet of their mission statement understand the importance of not only suppressing fires, but of preventing them. They also realize that fire-prevention efforts can have a positive impact on their organization's overall effectiveness. For example, fire-prevention efforts provide a venue for improving a department's public image within the community, generating community financial support and building public support.

In , Johnson County Rural Fire District # in Clarksville, Ark., decided to implement a fire-safety program with its community partners. Not only did the department see a decrease in life and property loss over the years, but it also found its community willing to financially support its fire-safety program.

Step 2: Identify risks in the community

Conducting a community risk assessment and identifying demographic characteristics will allow the department to evaluate the impact that fire has had on its community.

It is important to identify community risks relative to potential problems. Where do fires occur most in a response area, and what population is affected most by the risk? Identifying the various risks in a community will allow a department to establish goals aimed at mitigating them. Time spent targeting potential risks helps to minimize time and dollars spent fighting fires.

The National Fire Data Center, the National Fire Protection Association, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Fire Administration Web sites can help departments assess the risks in their area.

Through the risk-assessment process, questions such as, "Does the area that you live in have a large elderly population?" and "Has there been an increase in cooking fires?" are addressed, among others. More important, the risk assessment tackles issues most relevant to your community.

Step 3: Establish fire-safety program goals and objectives

Once the mission statement is defined and the community's risks are assessed, the next step is to establish the organization's fire-safety education program goals. Goals emphasize saving lives, reducing injuries and reducing property losses. The objectives should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant (to the mission) and timely.

Step 4: Develop strategies to achieve goals and objectives

Once goals and objectives are established, the next step is to create strategies designed to reduce the community risks. For example, do you need to concentrate efforts on a specific area of town? Are the fires related to a certain population, such as the elderly? If so, focus energies on these populations. The / rule applies to fire-safety efforts, as well — % of the benefits from fire-safety efforts will come from % of fire-safety programming. That is why conducting an effective community-needs assessment is so vital to success. Targeting the highest risk populations will yield the greatest benefits.

How does your organization fit in the plan to reduce community risk? Do you need to collaborate with another organization or organizations to reach the targeted population? For example, if you have a large Hispanic population, you can partner with your local literacy organizations or churches to assist with your efforts. Should you find a risk exists pertaining to the elderly population cooking, considering partnering with the local senior center for cooking-safety classes.