NFPA Standard Explorer

Framework for building a structured community risk reduction program. Guides fire departments through data collection, risk profiling, intervention strategy, and program evaluation to reduce fire and injury risk in the communities they serve.

The majority of fire-related deaths occur before the first apparatus arrives. Prevention and risk reduction programs—smoke alarm campaigns, home safety visits, community education—directly address the risks that suppression alone cannot reach. A data-driven CRR program targets resources where they reduce actual community risk.

• Community risk assessment and data collection concepts
• Risk prioritization and target population identification concepts
• Intervention strategy development (education, engineering, enforcement, economic, emergency response)
• Program planning, budgeting, and resource allocation concepts
• Evaluation metrics and outcome measurement concepts
• Partnership development with community organizations and AHJs

• Using fire incident data to identify high-risk neighborhoods or demographic groups for targeted outreach
• Building a smoke alarm installation program with data-driven deployment
• Developing home safety visit programs for at-risk populations (elderly, low-income, high-incident addresses)
• Reporting CRR program outcomes to leadership and elected officials
• Integrating CRR roles into company officer and firefighter job responsibilities

• CRR is the fire marshal's job (suppression companies generate valuable risk data and community contact opportunities).
• CRR programs are expensive to run (data analysis and education programs can be low-cost with high impact).
• If we do public education, we've done CRR (effective CRR requires data, targeting, and measured outcomes—not just activities).

• Pull your last 3 years of incident data and map high-frequency addresses and neighborhoods
• Identify your top 3 preventable incident types and design targeted interventions
• Partner with housing authorities, social services, and schools to extend reach
• Track intervention outcomes—smoke alarm follow-up call rates, re-incident rates—and report them