January 21, 2020
Olympia – The State Fire Marshal’s Office (SFMO) is joining safety professionals across the nation to promote Community Risk Reduction (CRR) Week. This campaign promotes CRR, a data-driven process that identifies and prioritizes fire and life safety risks, then strategically invests resources to reduce their occurrence and impact.
The goal of CRR is to build healthy, safe, and resilient communities by educating individuals about the important actions they can take to keep themselves safe and prepared before an emergency occurs.
Data submitted to the SFMO from fire departments in Washington State shows that in 2018:
- A fire department responded to a fire every 17 minutes. A home fire occurred every 48 minutes in Washington and a structure fire occurred every 53 minutes.
- Fires were responsible for 67 civilian deaths, 161 civilian injuries, and an estimated $225 million in property damage.
- More than 9,300 wildfires burned 1.5 million acres of land.
The purpose of CRR is to protect the lives and property of Washingtonians by “getting ahead of the call,” and preventing or putting in place mitigation strategies before emergencies such as home fires. The process of CRR allows for fire departments to identify the unique risks and needs of each community. Those needs are then met through the implementation of the 5 E’s; Education, Engineering, Enforcement, Emergency Response, and Economic Incentive.
The SFMO is committed to protecting the citizens of Washington State and their property in collaboration with the fire service and other public safety professionals through CRR efforts.
For more information about fire safety and prevention, visit the SFMO’s website at https://wsp.wa.gov/prevention-data-collection/ or follow us on Twitter @wafiremarshal.
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