Prevention Seeks to Cut Alarm Rate
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When the Newburgh, N. Y., Fire Department was reduced from five to three companies, fire fighters developed a fire prevention program aimed at reducing the work load by making the community more aware of fire dangers and the fire fighters more aware of ghetto problems.
Local 589 of the International Association of Fire Fighters and the Newburgh Fire Fighters Benevolent Association began researching ways to help residents in the event of fire. In the spring of 1977, President Arthur Wilcox of Local 589 and Vice President Dennis Carpenter obtained a $76,000 federal employment and training grant through Orange County. With this grant, the Community Fire Prevention Service was started on December 5.
The service has six full-time employees. Three of them are senior fire prevention officers who have an extensive background of the fire service and the other three are apprentice fire prevention officers whose task is to interject problems of the minority community based on their personal experiences in that community.
Many on welfare
It should be noted that 50 percent of the welfare recipients in Orange County live in Newburgh. With a population of 27,000 people, Newburgh has a minority population of 13,000 blacks and Hispanics.
The Newburgh Fire Department has been slow to obtain a representative portion of blacks and Hispanics. Therefore, the first function of the Community Fire Prevention Service is to give the minority community a better understanding of the fire fighter’s job, as well as to make the largely white fire service more aware of the problems of the ghetto. This first problem is attacked by our team concept where the senior fire prevention officer serves as a public relations person for the fire service and the apprentice performs the same task for the minority by using personal experience to sell their points.
The service’s employees were first orientated to the purpose and goal of the program and then instructed in the operation of the Newburgh Fire Department, the fire service in general, the community and problems involving poverty and discrimination, and other various areas that we and the employees felt would aid the program in the goal of fire prevention.
Complaints handled
The Community Fire Prevention Service has many avenues to create a tie between the fire department and the community. The first is its phone line. Tenants phone in complaints of poor housing facilities, which are then channeled to the proper agency. The complaints are then monitored to ensure that action is taken to correct the problem. But just to refer and follow up these complaints is not enough.
Fire prevention education is stressed throughout the city. Literature, designed by our program to educate the community, is written so people can re late to it. The facts focus not on national problems, but on local ones instead, and it is written in both Spanish and English.
The manner in which the literature is distributed takes three forms: door to door, mailings through an established list, and presentations through community organizations. Included in this literature is a monthly newsletter that makes everyone aware of the activities of the service. These activit ies include essay contests, poster contests, scout merit badge programs and other related youth services.
False alarm problem
Another major problem which is addressed by this program is the rising false alarm rate. In 1977, Newburgh responded to 1647 alarms, 657 of which were false. Newburgh ranked 4 percent below New York City in total fire calls per capita. Our program is based on the belief that the only way to reduce false alarms is to make the community aware of their cost and danger.
When Newburgh, 60 miles north of New York City on the Hudson River, faced financial difficulties, the fire department was reduced from three engine and two ladder companies in 1975 to two engine companies and one ladder company. The on-duty manpower was cut from 18 to 12 men per shift.
We are trying to reduce the workload of the fire department by educating the residents in exit drills in the home and making them aware of the danger of fire to themselves, their families, and the fire fighters and reduction of severe fires is our motive.
