Here’s coverage from Channel 2 (WTDN) in Dayton. I need to clarify:

1. The Ohio State Fire Marshal was NOT called, nor did they respond to this fire. Our own Fire Marshal, Mike Long, from Washington Township FD was on scene to investigate this fire.
2. Flames did NOT shoot from the roof. They were visible on the roof. According to Fire Marshal Long, there is a membrane-type material on the roof that had caught fire, but it was not venting through the roof like we see on many fires.

From WDTN website

WASHINGTON TWP. (WDTN) – The state fire marshal was called to a Washington Township business after it went up in flames Wednesday morning.

It happened around 3 a.m. at Lancaster Bingo Corporation, located in the 700 block of Congress Park Drive.

Motion detectors picked up the moving flames and set off the alarm system.

When firefighters arrived they say flames were shooting into the air.

“When they arrived they did find flames on the roof, said Rich Palmer of the Washington Township Fire Department. “They made access through the back of the building through a garage door area and found a bunch of containers … cardboard boxes and storage items on fire.”

Investigators determined the cause to be electrical.

The damage is estimated at about $250,000.

Additional news coverage

WHIO in Dayton also covered this fire. They do not offer a video embed option. The story can be found at their web site.
Clarifications:

1. The Washington Township Fire Department did not fear that they would lose the roof.
2. The firefighters did not have to fight through thick smoke to get to the source of the fire. It was present as soon as they opened the back door to the building (see my interview in the video).

An additional (and seemingly more accurate) detail of this fire can be found at the Dayton Daily News website.

WKEF22/FOX45 ran a short story on this fire, as well.

I was asked several times this week what I was doing to “celebrate” fire prevention week. I replied, “nothing.” Of course, this reply often raises eyebrows and suspicions as to my professionalism. I find it exhausting to explain my philosophy each time the question is asked, but I do feel that my story needs telling.

First of all, fire prevention week is NOT a celebration. It has its roots in the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. The conflagration killed more than 300 people, left 100,000 homeless, and destroyed countless buildings and homes.* A bit more than forty years after the event President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed the first national fire prevention week, October 4-10, 1925. Since then the National Fire Protection Association has endeavored to continue the tradition.

Coolidge, with some wisdom and sympathy, had realized that more than 15,000 persons per year were dying from fires in the U.S. He called this situation “startling.” Coolidge stated,

“This waste results from the conditions which justify a sense of shame and horror; for the greater part of it could and ought to be prevented… It is highly desirable that every effort be made to reform the conditions which have made possible so vast a destruction of the national wealth”.

And, in all respects I agree absolutely with his sentiment. I don’t, however, believe that a single week should be the focus of the efforts to prevent these devastating fires.

Corporate convenience

Each October I receive more phone calls asking for fire department participation for events, tours, corporate “community days” and special events than I can possibly accommodate. Most of the requests come last minute, as people have realized that their corporation calendar shows “Fire Prevention Week.”

Sadly, I find that most of these last minute requests are [often] feeble attempts for companies and organizations to show their “community spirit.” They want to show their “neighbors” how much they care. So, obviously, the best thing to do is to invite the big red fire trucks to come to their parking lot to draw attention to their business. Perhaps to pull some people in off the street that hadn’t been there in awhile — or at all. Unfortunately, I’ve realized throughout the twenty years that there is little interest by the public to stop by for some free safety literature and a look at the truck. There are a handful of parents and kids at each of these events… and there is an attempt by the fire department personnel to provide education when possible. But overall, it is a very thin smokescreen for sales building.

And in the areas where fire departments do not have the budget or staff to provide year-round education, this is their attempt at providing “something” to help educate the public. Unfortunately, there is little that can be done (besides the obvious public relations benefit to the agency) to educate the public about safety in such a short period of time. Very few of these fire prevention week activities provide quality education that has residual and retentive benefit.

Because It’s Fire Prevention Week!

During my twenty years in the fire service, I have taught more than 8,600 children per year, more than 1,000 adults each year, and have provided more messages about fire safety than I could possibly count. I work constantly at providing enough education throughout the year to maintain the messages throughout the community. There is NO way that a week of fire prevention messages would ever enable me to accomplish this task. And there is no reason that anyone should limit their focus on preventing fires to only one week each year.

Yet, I get constant requests (a day or week before Fire Prevention Week) for the fire department to visit local daycares, preschools, companies and businesses. They think of it just before the week starts — and then get angry or disappointed that we can’t provide the service.

Keeping up with the schedule

I schedule each of my classes well in advance. The department has long maintained a policy of 30 days notice for any request. My school programs start in September — and they are typically scheduled by the end of the previous school year (in May). And, because the bulk of our tours and school programs happen in the fall, they coincidentally fall during October. This leaves little room for me to schedule additional activities.

A few years ago a local preschool became very angry with me that I would not come to their school and that I would not bring a fire engine during fire prevention week. They called me three days in advance. They explained that “we are an accredited school and should be given the same opportunity as other schools!” I agreed. I told them to follow the same procedures that the other schools followed to be added to the schedule. I told them that I would be glad to put them in the calendar if they filled out the appropriate forms and submitted them at least 30 days prior to their requested date.

They were so angry that they went to the mayor to complain. The mayor went to the fire chief and the chief to me. All for the sake of providing a fire engine for a visit to “celebrate fire prevention week.” They explained that their corporation ‘requires’ them to have the fire department visit that week. I asked, “what if the fire department is unavailable?” I wondered what happens when the fire department has an emergency and has to divert their crews from the detail. Does the corporation CLOSE the affiliated school? Highly unlikely.

Take precautions and check your safety regularly

I don’t agree with Fire Prevention Week as a concept, but do understand why it exists. I think we have failed to realize the real focus of the message, though. Instead of thinking about fire safety as a grandiose catch-phrase each October, we should be planning and practicing our fire safety skills throughout the year.

When is the last time that you and your family actually PRACTICED a home fire drill? Have you gone through the motions? Are you one of the people that uses excuses to justify the lack of practice? Believe me I have heard them all over the last twenty years:

• It’s not going to happen to us
• We’re too busy
• We already know what to do
• It’s a waste of time
• That’s what insurance is for
• How hard can it be?

And many, many more. I can easily give you the responses to these excuses, but I’ll save that for another writing. Let’s just put it this way… “Just because you think you know what to do doesn’t mean you can really do it.”

It has been proven that the acts of planning and actually PRACTICING home fire drills can save more lives. I encourage you to do this. Not just during fire prevention week, but at least two or three times each year. Don’t know how? Check out the easy steps available at the Home Safety Council.

Footnote

*Tragically, the worst recorded forest fire in North American history raged through Northeastern Wisconsin (Peshtigo) and Upper Michigan at the same time the fire was burning in Chicago. This fire destroyed millions of dollars worth of property and timberland, and took between 1,200 and 2,400 lives. But, because the Peshtigo fire didn’t include a legend of a cow and lantern, it seems to have faded into general obscurity.

Providing public information during emergency response

Today my department responded to a house fire. This fire was very extensive. There are indications that the house may be totally lost. This, of course, will be determined following the investigation by fire investigators and insurance representatives.

Several news agencies were on scene at this fire. I was asked to respond to cover the public information aspect of the situation. I received information from the fire chief and proceeded to give statements to the area television and newspaper reporters on scene.

Media typically responsible and ethical

Typically, I am very pleased with these agencies. They do a fine job of reporting information as it is received. The relationships that we have developed over the years have been effective and realistic. However, today I find that one news agency has failed in its reporting. At least in the reporting that is provided on the agency web site. I have not seen the television coverage as yet, so I do not know if they may have made mistakes there, as well.

Shoddy reporting

Here is the information provided on the WHIO web site:

Did Restored Power Cause House Fire?

A woman in Washington Township got a call Wednesday afternoon, telling her that her house was on fire.

Authorities said a letter carrier on his daily route spotted the smoke while he was dropping off the mail on Viewpoint Drive.

Neighbors were shocked. Jean Mindlin said, “I’ve lived here 46 years, never seen a fire, period.”

Neighbor Darlene Mehbod said, “It’s very sad.”

It’s also the timing of the fire that has neighbors and firefighters concerned.

Rich Palmer of the Washington Twp. Fire Department said, “They had restored power to 1210 and 1240.”

According to Palmer, “You could have overheated chords, circuts plugged in surge when power comes on.”

The home was a total loss.

Falling down on the job

This is some of the worst reporting and coverage that I’ve noticed. The quotes attributed to me are paraphrased so poorly they make absolutely no sense. I stated that the power had been restored at 12:10 (as in p.m.). I then stated that the fire was reported to the fire department at 12:40 (p.m.).

There are typographical errors in the final attribution. And the information is misleading and taken completely out of context. I stated several times that this fire is under investigation and that the cause was yet undetermined. When the reporter asked what “might happen” when power is restored to a home after an outage, I mentioned that I could not speculate what ‘might happen.’

I advised that fires can start for a variety of reasons. In a very general manner, I cautioned that when residents finally have power restored that they should turn things on very gradually in their home. I mentioned that many things left on could cause some problems in the home if power is suddenly restored — such as overheated circuits, systems running at half phase, and too much current draw that might damage electronics in the home. The simple statement given online by this particular news agency is confusing, out of context, and potentially misleading.

I believe that news stations should hold themselves to the same standards of reporting on their web sites as they do in their newscasts. THIS example is a poor reflection of their capabilities.

They have issued this campaign with a similar video talking about "my mom". There are also Spanish language versions available. Find out more at http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/…ns/heroes/
Mobile post sent by RichPalmer using Utterz.  Replies.

“The future is here. It’s just not evenly distributed yet.” — William Gibson, science fiction author.

They’re Talking About You: Social Media and Public Safety

Opinions are out there

Your agency is the topic of conversation. Somewhere someone has said something about it. The statement they made may be very positive. Of course, it may have had a negative slant, as well. Most assuredly a monologue has become dialog. It has possibly expanded into a complete discussion with global reach. Now, the perceptions that have formed are not limited to your agency alone, but to your entire industry.

How is this global reach happening? It is spreading through social media. People are engaged in the views, opinions, statements, and perceived credibility of the leaders in their networks and communities.

Social Media Big Dogs

Perhaps you are familiar with the “big dogs” of social media: MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube. These tend to be the most viral and most well known by the general computer user. Even those persons that don’t engage in social media themselves have likely visited a YouTube video or MySpace site that has been recommended to them in an email. Perhaps they’ve stopped at a personal or corporate web log (blog) to read an article about a brief subject of interest. That blog may include an embedded “widget” from a social media site such as YouTube.

But wait, there’s more

You should also know, however, that social media is not limited to these big names. There are hundreds of sites and services that help people engage in conversation. People have SMS (short message service) connections to almost every contact through web sites, their mobile phones, portable data assistants (PDAs) and even their wi-fi enabled gaming devices such as Play Station Portables. Sites such as “Twitter”, “Jaiku”, and “Pownce” provide them with direct connections to people around the world through a process now called “micro-blogging.” The account holder is limited to 140 characters via their favorite connection device. The 140 character limit is based on the typical cell phone SMS limit. Messages are typically limited to this number, otherwise they carry over into a second message. Pownce, though not as widely popular, allows for great character entries and includes the opportunity to attach images and other file attachments.

Pushing the message to the masses

Other subscribers, or “friends,” can respond to the content in the same manner – and through the same variety of devices and formats. They can subscribe to their personal content or their friend list content via RSS (really simple syndication) and have the entire “stream of consciousness” delivered to them for immediate consumption and reaction. Many use this technology to talk about current events or simply to engage in conversation about their own activities.

Once people know, they will talk

How does this affect your agency’s flow of information? The conversations are immediate and the results can be rapidly viral. Some conversations can carry to global proportions in only moments. More people engage in the micro-blogging activities and some carry it to full length blog posts. Some even develop ready-action campaigns that elicit response at a rapid rate. Often, of course, these activities grab the attention of traditional media.

An example of social media micro-blogging that carried news around the world faster than traditional sources could report it was recently cited by Neville Hobson of the “Hobson and Holtz Report.” In a recent podcast version of this report, Hobson recanted his response to the January 17 crash of British Airways Flight 38 at Heathrow Airport. He reacted to the initial report by entering an entry to his Twitter account that stated the plane had crashed and that there were “no injuries.” His own personal convictions for providing correct information dictated that he update that information when he discovered that there were, indeed, 12 injuries on the aircraft. He lamented in his podcast report, however, that this update might not have been read or discovered by his group of subscribers, therefore, not everyone might have received the updated information. Simple events such as this can obviously sway public reporting and the message that is carried forth.

Opinions will be stated — and shared

NIOA President Judy Pal shared an article with me from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution web site (ajc.com). This article showed how social media can carry a message – and obviously create public opinion – that can possibly damage the reputation of an agency. In this example, the AJC headline from January 23, 2008 reads “Pupil who called schools chief about snow gets icy reply.” The article showed how the student from Fairfax County, Virginia shared a voice message reply from the wife of the school official through the YouTube service. Her reply to his phone call was made public in a matter of moments. The potential listening “audience” is obviously global. One can see from the four pages of comment to the AJC article that opinions of every possible variety were formed.

You can control the official message

Can your agency benefit from the use of social media tools? Of course! Can it be damaged by others’ use of the same tools? Of course! The key, I believe, is that public information officers must be aware and keyed into these resources. They must have strategic ideas in place that help them use this knowledge and these resources productively. Can you use a service like this to help ensure that your message is direct and “official?” Yes, I believe you can. When you are the source of the information in this social media environment, you can deliver it directly to those that might otherwise “make it up as they go along.” Will people change the message? Probably. But if you have the option to deliver the message directly into the stream of RSS feeds – instead of waiting for it to filter there through “traditional means” – you should probably take it.

It will become more than we now know

I’ll share one final opinion. Social media is just the tip of the iceberg. Some of these technologies are just now being explored. Those involved in these communities often admit that they know this is just the beginning of drastic changes in how we communicate with each other. When your information technologies personnel block your access to these services, they may be doing your agency a huge disservice. As public information officers, we are responsible for monitoring media to find out how our agency is being reported. We should monitor ALL media. Radio, television, and newspapers are only a small part of today’s media landscape. Don’t limit your knowledge – or your sources.