By Leonard N. Chan
Fire department leaders should not passively accept public policy changes that affect the fire service. The policymaking process offers ample opportunities for active involvement. Relying on your jurisdiction’s legal department or even on professional associations has proven insufficient in a high-stakes environment that continues to evolve rapidly.
Bottom line: Direct public policy engagement by fire departments is a function that can no longer be ignored.
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Set the stage
Decisions affecting community safety don’t just take place on emergency scenes. Long before the first unit arrives on scene, elected and appointed officials have already made policy decisions that affect a fire department’s operations. This reaches beyond the local Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ), in which the fire chief may have at least weekly interactions with the mayor, city council or city manager. Significant policy decisions also happen at the state and federal levels, which may include establishing PPE requirements, training standards and injury protections. Regulatory and legislative bodies may also help facilitate information sharing and distribution of resources.
Despite opportunities to participate, local fire departments are often absent in the decision-making process. As the public policy process becomes increasingly turbulent, fire departments can no longer stand aside without active engagement and simply accept what policymakers pass.
From disengaged to uproar
Government agencies such as the Texas Commission on Fire Protection rarely make the news, much to the relief of the state’s fire service. The commission’s primary role consists of regulating the 1,300-plus fire departments that employ career firefighters.
Their quarterly commission hearings in the early 2010s rarely drew significant attendance. Agenda items such as curriculum updates for hazmat technicians lacked excitement. Occasional topics, such as the minimum training for fire inspectors, spurred significant debate, but the vast majority of departments had limited engagement. Few departments had staff available to attend half-day meetings in the capital for business that was considered routine.
That mentality started to change when fire departments across the state realized their regulatory rules could have drastic impacts on their organizations. The commission fielded a complaint that a fire chief served as an incident commander on a fire scene despite no longer having the skills to do so. In summer 2014, the proposed solution consisted of requiring fire chiefs to have five years of experience within the last 10 years in a full-time fire suppression position. This meant no one spending significant time in administration, prevention or training would be qualified to be a fire chief in the state. In addition, a strict interpretation of this proposal could also mean five-year term limits for fire chiefs.
Despite being discussed in open meetings, the topic drew limited attention. However, once the proposed language was published as required, news spread like wildfire across the state. Multiple departments submitted written public comments ahead of the next commission meeting. That meeting had full attendance, with fire chiefs testifying about the unintended consequences of the proposal. One commissioner reprimanded the audience for not getting involved earlier. The process, however, provided multiple points for feedback. Advocacy efforts proved effective, and an eventual compromise was reached in which the commission doubled the continuing education hours required for fire chiefs.
The power of SMEs
The impacts of state legislatures on the fire service cannot be understated. Topics such as first responder mental health, civil service, fire codes and hazardous materials may be addressed at the state level.
During the Texas 88th Legislature in 2023, elected officials introduced more than 250 bills that included the word “fire.” Influencing public policy doesn’t end on Election Day. The legislative process provides opportunities to directly address elected officials and testify before committees. Municipal fire departments often have the luxury of their respective government affairs staff to provide guidance. Their presence does not mean that the fire departments should cede all responsibilities in the policymaking process, but efforts must remain aligned with the AHJ. Individuals assigned to roles in government affairs lack the bandwidth to maintain subject-matter expertise in every field within their scope of responsibilities.
Reading draft legislation and monitoring hearings may only appeal to a select few in the fire service, but fire departments have an obligation to provide professional insight. This includes expressing concerns about legislation when necessary, even when the legislation is popular. For example, in 2019, legislation that would have prevented mobile internet providers from degrading their services in disaster areas nearly passed the Texas House of Representatives. The legislation stalled after first responder agencies raised concerns that this may endanger the ability to access necessary communications during emergencies.
Beyond professional associations
The temptation to rely on professional associations in public policy advocacy must be resisted. Professional associations for fire chiefs and firefighters provide valuable services but may be required to operate on consensus rather than simple majorities. Topics related to shift schedules, health and safety, and training requirements continue to be hotly debated, and professional associations may shy away from adopting an official stance.
Also, select local issues that require remedies at the state level may not be of concern to professional associations. For example, although most metro-sized departments in Texas have their own pension systems, the Texas Legislature establishes their parameters. That means circumstances could compel individual fire departments to develop their own public policy strategies.
Downstream impacts
The publication of the America Burning report by the National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control in 1973 marked the turning point of the federal government’s role in the fire service. The report served as the foundation for congressional action that led to the creation of fire service institutions that persist to this day including the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) and the National Fire Academy.
Federal programs have enhanced cross-state coordination and standardization. The National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) has long served as the most notable example because it acts as the database of fire service activities nationwide. Launched in 1975, NFIRS received its last meaningful update in January 1999 – and its problems have since been a focus of much discussion. Among the issues cited by the USFA: NFIRS lacked interoperability with modern systems and the ability to integrate critical data in order to provide insights into the national fire problem.
The development of its successor, the National Emergency Reporting Information System (NERIS), provided an opportunity for stakeholders to participate in focus groups and submit public comments. During this process, the Houston Fire Department did not assume that a subject-matter expert would raise suggestions on its behalf. With a significant volume of its emergency responses dedicated to motor vehicle collisions and its involvement in related community risk reduction efforts, the Houston Fire Department recommended terminology changes in to better align with the terms used by transportation safety experts. The updated version of NERIS incident types adopted this recommendation by referring to such incidents as “collisions” rather than as “accidents.”
Additionally, the federal Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program provides direct financial assistance to fire departments, EMS organizations, and state fire training academies to support critical training and equipment. During the 2021 grant cycle, 91 Texas fire departments received a combined $19.4 million from the AFG program.
Funding for the AFG program, as well as for Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency (SAFER) grants, face frequent threats. In 2023, the Senate Appropriations Committee proposed a more than $20 million reduction to each program. In response, Texas fire departments conducted a coordinated letter-writing campaign to their respective senators to ensure these grant programs would continue. The basic information regarding the grants remained constant across the letters, but each individual letter had specific details on how the grants affected each respective department. Understanding that form letters rarely attract attention, each department used their official letterheads and included the signature of the fire chief.
Another effort commenced to extend the sunset date for these programs to 2030. Despite reductions in funding, Congress renewed AFG and SAFER grants with overwhelming supermajorities in June 2024.
Get involved
No matter their intentions, when elected and appointed officials make decisions without the proper context, they have the potential to endanger public safety. Leaders in the fire service have an obligation to provide the necessary information to support informed policymaking. This requires recognizing the importance of situational awareness in committee rooms as much as on emergency scenes. Not all efforts will result in victories, but getting involved is likely to lead to better results than passive acceptance.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Leonard N. Chan is the accreditation manager for the Houston Fire Department. He previously served in a similar role with the Cedar Park (Texas) Fire Department. Chan currently serves as the Texas Center for Public Safety Excellence (CPSE) Consortium chair and has participated in a dozen agency accreditation peer reviews. As an inaugural member of the NFPA 1022: Standard for Fire and Emergency Services Analyst Professional Qualifications technical committee, Chan co-authored the chapter on industry-specific knowledge. Prior to joining the fire service, Chan served as legislative staff for the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission. He graduated magna cum laude from Rice University, where he studied political science, religious studies and history. He holds a master’s of public administration from University of Houston.
