Fire Prevention Program Hampered by Low Turn-Out

Southern Alabama volunteer firefighters spent an estimated 40-50 hours writing the grant and negotiating with FEMA to allow them to provide 270 smoke detectors and 70 fire extinguishers to the roughly 1500-1800 homes served by the Independence Volunteer Fire Department. This spring, they mailed out flyer inviting members of the community to come to the fire station. About a dozen residents...

Ready, Set, Go! Wildfire safety program gaining favor in the U.S.

The International Association of Fire Chiefs is promoting a new program for inhabitants of fire prone areas (not just the Wildland-Urban Interface) called Ready, Set, Go! The concept is deceptively simple: each word stands for a phase of planning and preparation for wildland fire. Get Ready! This phase begins months or years before the wildfire’s ignition, with outreach from firefighters...