By Becki White
Growing up in Minnesota, the “Land of 10,000 Lakes,” generally your first exposure to lazily holding a fishing pole, willing for a nibble, comes shortly after the rattle is extricated from your grasp. I spent many weekend days on the dock or in a boat willing the fish hidden from view to grab ahold of my bait. Of course, when they would, I usually wasn’t ready for it, and I would panic and grab and yank at my pole, and the fish would get away.
My dad would shuffle through his four-tiered tackle box, pulling at lures that were different colors, different textures, adorned with feathers or long tentacles, until he settled on just the right one. He would expertly cast across the calm lake, drop the lure just where he wanted it and, before long, he would be reeling in the exact fish he had in mind. Years of experience had brought him to where he was: an expert at the craft. I started out expecting to have that same success, but I didn’t know what I was doing.
I’ve learned that wetting a line is one thing, but catching fish is a sport of great patience and significant skill. To succeed, you must know about the species and understand the topography of the lake. You have to consider the time of day, feeding habits and, most importantly, how to properly match the bait to the type of fish you want to catch. I’ve learned that some fish will eat anything, but they’re not the ones worth catching.
Years later, as a firefighter and a fire safety educator, I had the good fortune to hear a presentation by St. Paul (MN) Fire Department Fire Chief Tim Butler. He talked about fire prevention messaging and said that we need to reframe the way we are delivering our messages. He said, “We have to stop fishing.”
Stop fishing. What?
Chief Butler explained that the fire service delivers safety messages just like an angler out on that quiet lake.
Successful fire educators will put time, energy, and resources into preparation. They study the lay of the land. They look at the numbers; understand the local fire problem; and craft messages to meet the experiences, perceptions, and education level of the audiences they address. An educator without the resources or experience might just load up the lines with any lure that looks nice and start trolling, hoping something will happen. Too often, it doesn’t.
This leads to the fundamental problem with most fire safety education: We have the bait—our “go-to” fire safety messages. They are lined up in the tackle box like Curly Tail Grubs, and we’re ready to throw them out there. Unfortunately, we have a trolling mindset: “Hey community, I’ll run this past your nose, and all you have to do is come and get it!” The fire service is waiting for the fish to come to us. We have to change that perspective.
There are some departments who have a completely different approach to educating the public. It’s a targeted, strategic approach. They rigorously plan and prepare, placing the messages where their different audiences live. They break the surface of the water to get their message out. They don’t a throw a one-size-fits-all message into the water and wait for a bite.
They knock on doors as crews are working a structure fire down the street. They tell neighbors about the fire and what the likely cause was, or they talk about the leading causes of home fires. They ask to come in and check smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. They are armed with information to impart to families, and if they can’t do home inspections right then, they schedule a time to come back. And they go back!
This is not trolling; it’s not even casting haphazardly. These folks are diving in! They’re getting the fish by going to the fish—not willing them to come to the hook. They go into homes and make personal connections with people, educating them on fire safety issues and teaching them how to keep their families safe. They’re learning about their audience’s environment and adjusting their messages to work for each individual they talk to. They’re leaving an impression of a fire department full of knowledgeable, caring professionals.
We have to stop sitting in our fire station boats, peering into our communities, and watching our audience swim around our safety messages. We have to dive in and understand people, learn about their behaviors, and adapt our messages to fit the environment in which they live.
So, let’s go for it! Don’t sit on the side of the lake, complacent with the way things have always been. Grab your Bermuda shorts and your SCUBA tank, and jump in!
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Author’s note: If you haven’t studied Minnesota and question the number of lakes we boast about, you’re right. We don’t have 10,000. The Minnesota Historical Society says it’s 15,291, counting every lake larger than 10 acres. I think maybe 10,000 just looks better on a license plate.
Becki White is a Minnesota deputy state fire marshal and a captain in the Eden Prairie (MN) Fire Department. She has a master’s degree in teaching and learning and was an elementary teacher for 12 years. White has combined her passion for education with her knowledge and experience in the fire service to become a resource for fire and life safety educators. White is also the vice president of the North Star Women’s Firefighter Association, a nonprofit organization that assists with mentoring, networking, and training women in the fire service.
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