Members of CRFD were on hand at the July 18, 2023 meeting of the Columbia City Council to be recognized for the department’s year-round exemplary work in Community Risk Reduction.
Last month the Columbia-Richland Fire Department was named a ‘Fire Safe South Carolina’ community for the year 2022. This was CRFD’s fourth consecutive year earning the honor from ‘Fire Safe South Carolina.’
‘Fire Safe’ communities are selected based on a department’s work promoting fire safety and education.
“I am honored that our city leaders chose to recognize our department for this great achievement,” said Columbia-Richland Fire Chief Aubrey D. Jenkins, “Being named a ‘Fire Safe SC’ community demonstrates that our members have a commitment to keeping our citizens and their properties safe from fire and other dangers. As a department it is our mission to not only respond to fires but also prevent them from occurring. That is what motives our fire prevention staff members as they conduct each and every fire inspection, fire safety presentation and smoke alarm installation over the course of the year.”
To earn the ‘Fire Safe South Carolina’ designation, fire departments had to complete courses focused on improving the quality of their department data. They also had to train their community partners on how to deliver in-home safety visits as well as take online courses in community risk reduction through the National Fire Academy. Over the course of 2022, 536 community partners were identified by fire departments statewide in South Carolina and more than 2,500 fire service members were educated on community risk reduction topics. Also nearly one million citizens in the state were educated on fire and life safety topics.
In 2022 fire prevention staff members at CRFD completed 357 public fire education demonstrations. This included giving 21 virtual fire station tours. They also completed 258 home fire safety surveys for citizens in the City of Columbia and Richland County and installed 449 free smoke alarms and 118 carbon monoxide alarms for citizens in need of those devices.
“It’s not just one, you’re taking part in several different functions that are really life-saving measures for our community,” said Columbia Mayor Daniel J. Rickenmann, “Those smoke alarms you put out there can make a difference between somebody getting out and somebody being lost and so we appreciate it.”
Launched in 2017, Fire Safe SC’s partners include the S.C. State Firefighters’ Association, the S.C. State Association of Fire Chiefs, the S.C. Fire Marshal Association and the S.C Chapter of the International Association of Arson Investigators.
