By Assistant Fire Chief Justin Weaver
At Fort Belvoir Fire & Emergency Services (FBFES), community risk reduction (CRR) is not a supplementary program; it is a core operational priority designed to protect the many residential properties situated at Fort Belvoir Army Garrison — roughly 2,170 homes with 200 more currently under construction.
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Proactive CRR programs
Faced with recurring residential fire risks and a transient military population, FBFES recognized that a traditional, reactive response model was not fully meeting community needs or expectations. As such, the department shifted to a proactive, data-driven strategy anchored by two cornerstone initiatives — the Annual Door-to-Door Campaign and the Newcomers Orientation Program — to effectively protect the installation.
- Annual Door-to-Door Campaign: This initiative serves as the tactical bridge between the department and the community. By deploying firefighters into housing areas during peak evening hours, FBFES moves beyond enforcement to provide free in-home safety checks and real-time hazard correction. This face-to-face engagement builds the trust necessary to change resident behavior and identify hidden risks before they escalate.
- Newcomers Orientation Program: Although this program has been a staple at Fort Belvoir for years, FBFES identified a persistent challenge: The vital fire safety lessons taught by FBFES fire protection specialists (FPS) in the orientation classroom were not consistently translating into practical knowledge once residents settled into their homes. Field interactions often revealed that, despite the initial briefing, residents remained unfamiliar with key safety expectations. This realization led FBFES to restructure how it delivers and reinforces information, ensuring that CRR messaging is not just a one-time lecture, but a reinforced standard that follows the resident from the classroom to the living room.
Together, these initiatives have transformed Fort Belvoir’s approach from fighting fires to preventing them.
Residential sprinkler protection
It should also be noted that, per Army and Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC) guidance, all Army housing located on military property must meet specific fire protection requirements during renovation or new construction. Specifically, these residences are required to comply with NFPA 13D: Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems in One- and Two-Family Dwellings and Manufactured Homes. This regulatory alignment ensures that fire suppression systems are integrated into the design phase of all housing projects, providing a standardized level of life safety and property protection to residential inventory across the installation.
The impetus for change
The need for change became clear through trends identified in the Community Risk Assessment and Standards of Cover (CRA/SOC), incident reporting data, and observations from our fire team during incidents or community interactions. Statistically speaking, fire incidents were more common in residential occupancies compared to commercial occupancies.
Key challenges included:
- Increased nuisance alarms leading to occupant complacency
- Improper use and maintenance of smoke alarms
- Dryer vent and electrical hazards in family housing
- Lack of awareness among newly arriving residents unfamiliar with Fort Belvoir housing safety expectations
- Inconsistency between other federal installations with the initial 911 emergency call and varying response from on- and off-installation fire and emergency services
Additionally, the transient nature of the military installation meant a constant influx of new residents, many of whom had never interacted with fire prevention personnel before.
FBFES recognized that traditional inspection-based approaches were not enough. A more direct, relationship-driven model was needed.
Key players in the shift
The success of this initiative was built on collaboration across multiple stakeholders:
- Community Risk Reduction Branch (CRRB): Program design, execution and data tracking
- Fire protection specialists (FPS): Field engagement and inspections
- Company operations personnel: Supporting outreach during campaign execution
- Garrison leadership: Command emphasis and community endorsement
- Housing partners and village mayors: Coordination, resident communication, and ensuring Housing team was present every night to support the campaign
- Public Affairs Office (PAO): Messaging and campaign promotion
This unified approach ensured both operational credibility and community trust.
Program evolution
The Door-to-Door (D-2-D) fire and life safety program was started roughly 10 years ago by John Weaver, assistant fire chief of Training & Occupational Safety (retired), when he was in a fire protection specialist position. In its early iterations, teams conducted outreach across a wide variety of schedules, including weekends, evenings and daytime hours.
This operational rhythm was abruptly halted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which forced a complete suspension of the D-2-D program for roughly three years.
The discontinuation of these regular, in-person engagements had immediate and observable consequences on the installation. Without the proactive maintenance and educational touchpoints provided by the inspections, emergency responders noted a significant increase in nuisance alarms attributed to dying batteries. More critically, personnel began observing a rise in instances where residents had intentionally removed smoke alarms from their homes, creating severe life safety vulnerabilities.
During this period, the program largely relied on residents to proactively schedule appointments for their in-home inspections. While this ensured that willing participants received safety checks, it lacked the standardized, installation-wide reach necessary for comprehensive risk reduction.
Recognizing the critical need to restore and improve residential safety after the pandemic, the program was restructured into the targeted operation it is today. Moving away from the randomized, appointment-based scheduling of the past, the current D-2-D campaign is a focused, annual effort executed specifically during Fire Prevention Month in October. By canvassing villages Monday through Friday between 1730 and 1930 hours and embedding safety expectations into newcomer orientations from day one, the program has successfully transitioned into a proactive, continuous evaluation model that maximizes both reach and resident compliance.
Starting in 2025, housing management provided two to three technicians to support the campaign and fix serious life safety issues when identified on site.
Success metrics and impact
FBFES has seen measurable improvements in both safety outcomes and community engagement:
- Increased resident awareness of community outreach events and digital flyers
- Significant reduction of out-of-service and malfunctioning smoke alarms
- Increased resident participation in home safety practices
- Reduction in preventable fire incidents and near misses
- Improved compliance with fire and life safety standards in housing
Equally important are the qualitative successes:
- Increased resident receptiveness to firefighter engagement
- Increased trust between the fire department and the community
- Real-time hazard correction during visits (rather than post-incident)
A notable success involved identifying multiple homes with disabled smoke alarms due to nuisance activations, allowing immediate correction and education before a potential life-threatening incident occurred on-site.
Tips for replication: How other agencies can implement this model
Departments looking to replicate this success should focus on the following key principles:
Start with your data: Use your incident reports and risk assessments to identify where your higher-risk areas are in your community. Let data drive your target areas, not assumptions. It could be very challenging or impossible for some jurisdictions to visit every resident based on their response district.
Develop a checklist: Follow a basic, repeatable checklist during your visits:
- Smoke alarms (presence, age, functionality)
- Fire extinguishers
- Dryer vents
- Means of egress
Go when people are home: Traditional daytime inspections miss working families. Evening engagement (1730–1930) dramatically increases participation. However, some seasons (late fall, winter and early spring) can expect to have more people inside due to colder temperatures. Warm seasons can lead to families enjoying the weather after work hours.
Train your personnel to communicate, not just inspect: This is not enforcement; it’s engagement. Firefighters must be comfortable explaining:
- Why alarms matter
- How fires start
- What actions residents can take immediately
Use attention-getting visuals: Create a colorful disposable door hanger to place on doors of residences that were not home during the outreach. Include QR codes that residents can scan to schedule make-up inspections — a simple way to improve customer communication and timely reengagement.
Expand your reach: Advertising is paramount with stakeholders through social media outlets and in personal engagement.
Partner early and often: Work with key partners:
- Housing offices
- Community leaders
- Public affairs
They will help amplify your message and legitimize your efforts. Residents can see the impact firsthand through on-site repairs, and those actions speak louder than words.
Integrate CRR into existing touchpoints: Newcomers briefings are a force-multiplier. Every new resident should hear your message before they ever need your services.
Measure and adjust: It’s important to track key factors:
- Number of homes visited
- Hazards identified and corrected
- Resident interactions
Use this data to refine and justify your program.
Final thoughts
The shift from reactive firefighting to proactive risk reduction requires commitment, coordination and cultural change. At Fort Belvoir, the combination of a targeted Door-to-Door Campaign and a structured Newcomers Orientation Program have strengthened our CRR model, reducing risk before emergencies occur. We are continuously reviewing our programs and deployment models to ensure the best opportunities for engagement. There is no perfect time of day when you can reach every home, but finding the times that will assist teams in getting into many homes results in improved risk reduction potential. Furthermore, our agency continuously analyzes trends from previous years to see how we can continue improving program quality.
For departments seeking to make a similar transition, the path is clear: Engage your community directly, use your data wisely, and make risk reduction as visible as emergency response.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Justin Weaver is the assistant fire chief for CRRB at U.S. Army Garrison Fort Belvoir Fire & Emergency Services in Virginia.