fire safety organizations and affiliations with other groups

Fire services are on the front lines of community safety, and are occasionally integrated with other community organizations. However, fire service affiliations with other community groups are frequently underutilized. Fire service organizations sometimes fail to form effective alliances with community groups, and vice-versa, leading to breakdowns in communication and diminished delivery of service. Given the relationship value inherent in forming deeper and broader affiliations within the community, fire service organizations and the areas they serve benefit tremendously from relational and institutional embeddedness.

Relational and institutional embeddedness refers to the comprehensive coordination of communications and other critical services, not just when responding to disasters. Relationship value is created throughout the processes of disaster prevention. One of the ways community group affiliation with the fire service creates value is through the process of education, public relations, and public awareness, and how awareness promotes public safety. Affiliated groups need to establish ongoing information sharing programs, which enable two-way dialogue.

Fire departments need feedback continually from their affiliated community groups, just as the community groups need also to receive updated information that enhances both relational and institutional embeddedness (Nowell & Steelman, 2015). Public awareness of fire safety, building codes, disaster response, emergency preparedness, and disaster prevention are all facilitated through education. The educational process requires affiliation with community groups including schools, healthcare organizations, community or activity groups, local business, faith based organizations, and particularly the media.

As Carter & Rausch (2008) point out, fire service administrators also need to forge creative strategic alliances with local hospitality service industries like hotels, as well as light industry in the area. The key issue with forging these types of alliances is staff training, but information sharing is also a valuable bonus in community embeddeness. Staff training is one of the most important reasons why fire service organizations form affiliations with their community counterparts.

Fire service administrators might overlook the importance of forming strategic alliances with community groups, such as youth organizations and faith-based organizations. Yet the staff of community groups often presumes that other agencies are going to be more fully integrated with the fire service. Instead of deferring authority, community groups should seize the opportunity to empower themselves and their individual members with information. This can be done in different ways appropriate to the demographic of the group and is role in the community.

As Carter & Rausch (2008) suggest, children’s organizations can engage with fire departments through open houses, or less formal field trips whereby the kids “see and touch fire apparatus and equipment,” (p. 103). These hands-on learning demonstrations stimulate interest in, and awareness of, the connectivity between fire departments and all other community service organizations.

More importantly, the hands-on experiences open the door to learning opportunities whereby staff in those community groups, and the participants in the groups like children, learn the fundamental features of disaster prevention and disaster response. When it comes to building strategic alliances with adult community groups, Coleman (2014) claims that fire departments need to start with the basics because as many as 90% of adults surveyed do not understand exactly what fire departments do beyond their obvious role in fighting fires.

Given the lack of information, or even outright misinformation, about the fire service, departments need to develop cohesive media relations and communications strategies. Using social media is key to forging some of these alliances with community groups. The content strategy needs to be consistent across all platforms, while still taking into account different audiences. Ultimately the messages are the same: to promote awareness, empower each member of the community with knowledge, and create safer communities.

Therefore, fire departments can create relational and institutional embeddedness with community groups by participating more in broader community events. Booths at farmer’s markets, presence at community fairs, participation in local podcasts or radio shows, presence at sporting events, booths at faith-based events, and other ways of creating a firm presence in the community helps the fire department to generate valuable alliances with all members of the community.

Similarly, Compton (2001) strongly advises fire departments to reveal their value to community safety in general by creating a stronger visible presence in multiple sectors including offering inspections on child safety seats in automobiles, offering emergency service training, or performing blood pressure checks. Fire service departments and the community groups they are affiliated with benefit by enhanced media presence. The media does need to be involved in promoting the value of these critical alliances, in part because the media raises awareness about fundraising opportunities.

When strategic alliances are formed, naturally the fire department and their embedded organizations can share valuable resources and promote public safety in that way. Equally as important is the way the media provides the means by which a fire department raises money directly. The media can promote a fire department event, leading to corporate sponsorship. As Marinucci (n.d.) points out, volunteer fire departments are in a unique position, both financially and politically.

Most organizations will need to know that they are getting something out of the affiliation; to sell the community group on the value of the relationship, the media is key. Community groups will generally recognize the value of affiliations with the fire service, particularly when they recognize the diverse work that fire service departments provide. Although not at all as political as police departments, fire departments can play a part in local politics without sacrificing their integrity or their overall commitment to public safety.

As fire departments are usually aligned with emergency medical services and other first responders, it is important to form alliances that directly enhance coordination of communication, resources, and services. Coordination often requires political acumen and strong communication strategies. A public relations specialist who also serves in the role of social media manager would be an ideal role to have on any fire department, if budgets permit.

If not, the fire service can communicate the value of affiliating with public groups in less formal ways, by showing how the service provides a comprehensive set of tools designed to prevent and mitigate crises. Homeowners and business owners in the community are especially vulnerable when they remain unaware of the role the fire department plays, and how they can empower themselves with knowledge of.