Editor’s note: To mark this year’s Fire-Rescue International 2012 in Denver, FireRescue1 teamed up with the IAFC for a series of podcasts featuring some of the general education speakers at the event. In this podcast, FR1 Editor Rick Markley talks to Chief Matt Shobert, of the Murrieta, Calif., Fire Department, whose session is titled, “Re-establishing Your Community’s Trust in Their Fire Department.”
Having been fire chief during both booming and broken economies in one of the worst financially impacted counties in our nation has provided Murrieta, Calif. Fire Chief Matt Shobert with some interesting discussion points on the importance of rigorous community involvement.
Click here to download the podcast in MP3 format.
Stream the podcast by clicking ‘play’ below:
“I think there’s an expectation that if something catches on fire we put it out or if someone gets in a car accident we will take care of their basic needs,” Chief Shobert says in the podcast.
“What I’m referring to when we talk about lost trust is are our citizens getting good value for their tax money when they consider their fire department?
“I think we need to evaluate our climate and surroundings and make sure that they do in fact get good value for what they are getting with their tax dollars today.
“Our economy is the worst it’s been since the Great Depression, people are losing their homes, people are unemployed and they need to feel good about their fire department and trust that they are getting good value.”