Some might say that this measure would be a deterrent, preventing many local jurisdictions in dire need of assistance from even filing their grant applications. That might indeed be true in some cases, but we shouldn't generalize. Currently 72% of the applicants aren't receiving any funding at all. Big and small, career or volunteer, we all could use that federal assistance. More stringent requirements might not even change the statistical rejection by much. But those fire departments fortunate enough to receive grants would at least have a better game plan in hand to enhance their local service delivery and better protect the public. Such a scenario could encourage others to aim higher and follow that same success pattern to have a better chance in the future.

Why wouldn't we in the fire service benefit from having a fire loss management plan in our own local jurisdictions? Our daily plights of dealing with inadequate resources and our annual budget battles in our local jurisdictions attest to the fact that we in the fire service could all benefit from our local governments being held accountable for the long-range planning and provision of required resources.

By requiring local governments to provide a fire loss management plan with their grant applications, the federal government could have a positive impact and encourage much-needed improvements in both fire suppression and fire prevention, all across the country.

Suppression & prevention

A few years back, NFPA President Jim Shannon told the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science that “our research found that the areas of greatest concern are a shortage of fire stations to provide emergency response times that meet the guidelines of the Insurance Services Office and NFPA 1710 and insufficient staffing on responding fire apparatus for safe and effective firefighting inside a building, in accordance with NFPA Standards 1710 and 1720.

“Simply stated, at least 65% of our nation's cities and towns don't have enough fire stations to achieve the widely recognized ISO response time guidelines,” Shannon said. “Those guidelines recommend that first-call companies in built-upon areas of the city be located to ensure travel distances within 1½ miles. That guidance is consistent with the requirements of NFPA 1710 that firefighters respond within four minutes 90% of the time. However, arriving on scene in time isn't enough if you arrive without the necessary resources to make a difference.”

The fire service leadership and the federal government are aware that an inadequate number of fire stations and insufficient staffing levels directly affect our response times and significantly increase total fire fatalities and property loss. For the sole purpose of reducing our country's total annual fire loss and fatalities, wouldn't it make sense for the federal government to require inclusion of the fire loss management plan as a mandatory requirement for all local governments seeking FIRE Grants?