Fire Prevention: Demonstrate Value to Your Community
Dan Byrne and Lee Levesque share an equation that can help you tell your department's story in a universal language. Daniel Byrne Lee Levesque March 1, 2018 We have long advocated against continuing the firefighter humble-hero mindset, where we respond to life-and-death emergencies, and then simply shrug it off as just “doing our job.” Today’s society has evolved, and in order to remain a valued and supported community service, we must keep pace. Further, our increasingly abstract-digital society has become disengaged and skeptical of such holistic actions and intentions. While we may successfully put out the neighbor’s fire or handle their emergency, today’s citizens are asking more and more, “What have you done for ME today?” Due to our humble public service history, the fire service has been ill-equipped to respond to this critical question. But we must be prepared to answer this and the increasing line of questioning and challenges—and do so in a manner to which this modern d