Redlands, California—Esri and the Institute of Fire Engineers—USA (IFE)-hosted Vision 20/20 project have partnered to improve fire prevention planning through the use of simple risk analysis capabilities that include computer mapping and demographic analysis. The methods are being developed by teams of subject matter experts from both organizations and will be made available for free to fire departments across the United States. They will show public safety staff how to more effectively identify high-risk neighborhoods and create focused fire prevention programs. The resources will be incorporated into community risk reduction training offered by the Vision 20/20 project, including free online courses currently under development.
Vision 20/20 has been closely involved in the development of the Community Risk Reduction (CRR) effort across the nation. A key part of CRR is how fire departments partner with social services organizations within their communities to do fire safety outreach. This partnership between Esri and Vision 20/20 will help fire fighters develop strategies and tactics to promote community safety that are more focused on the demographics where it is needed.
"Education is vital to reducing death and injury from preventable fires," said Jennifer Schottke, public safety industry solutions manager, Esri. "The Vision 20/20 project provides outstanding training to fire departments across the country. We want to support this effort and help fire protection professionals do their jobs more effectively."
"We really appreciate the support from Esri," said Vision 20/20 project manager Jim Crawford. "It is a great example of how different groups can come together to support mutual goals. A proper risk assessment is essential for prevention planning, and Esri is an ideal partner because its commitment to improving the process and making resources available sets [the company] apart. This work will, without doubt, help improve prevention efforts in the United States."
Esri is supporting Vision 20/20 by supplying its software and data as part of fire department training. IFE is dedicated to promoting the improvement of the science and practice of fire engineering, prevention, and suppression through better risk assessments. Esri staff will participate in the training to teach fire department staff how to use Esri demographic resources combined with an organization’s incident data to map where to increase education and home safety visits. For instance, agencies can map and identify where incidence of fires with non-working smoke alarms has been high and where increased outreach is needed. In addition, the agencies can identify low-income housing where more education focusing on the use of working smoke alarms would be of benefit. Public safety professionals can take advantage of Esri mapping capabilities to quickly and accurately use data and pinpoint at-risk neighborhoods.
The Vision 20/20 project and Esri will be announcing the rollout of this program in the coming months. More information can be obtained by monitoring www.strategicfire.org, the Vision 20/20 website.
Contact: Ed Comeau, Vision 20/20 Communications Manager
Tel.: 918-926-6328
E-mail: ecomeau@strategicfire.org
