Burbank Fire Department gets accreditation

The Burbank Fire Department received accreditation last month from the Commission on Fire Accreditation International, marking the culmination of a two-year voluntary process that included an independent review of an extensive self-evaluation and suggestions on how to make improvements.

Burbank’s agency, which is now one of 207 accredited agencies worldwide, achieved the accreditation last month unanimously from an 11-member commission, said Burbank Fire Chief Tom Lenahan.

The accreditation, the application for which cost $8,500, is valid for five years, after which agencies can choose to renew.

As part of the process, fire officials completed a self-assessment and risk analysis, which was then reviewed and validated by volunteers representing the commission.

“The award of accreditation comes because they’ve asked for outsiders to come in and verify and validate that they’re doing what they said they were going to do,” said Karl Ristow, the commission’s program director, adding that the process gave the department “a huge amount of information to make data-driven decision-making.”

In response to Burbank’s self-assessment, the commission suggested areas for improvement, which included ways to reduce the time it takes to process a 911 call, which would reduce response times.

“They noticed the call processing time could be improved,” Lenahan said, adding that the fire department is already implementing technological improvements and staff training programs to mitigate the issue.

The commission also suggested the department implement a formalized review process following major disaster training exercises, as well as a program to document the agency’s public outreach efforts by tracking the number of citizens reached during community events such as station tours and engine demonstrations as well as CPR and disaster-preparedness training exercises.

“You always want continuous improvement,” Lenahan said. “To have outside set of eyes come in and recognize your department and receive accreditation on the first go-around was gratifying.”

Lenahan said the accreditation could also help strengthen the department’s Insurance Services Office rating, which could lower insurance rates for residents and businesses.