NFPA Journal - July/August 2019 - 50

Outreach by Lorraine Carli

ADVOCACY,
LEGISLATION,
AND PUBLIC
EDUCATION

New Day, Old Challenge
SEVENTY YEARS AGO, SAFETY ADVOCATES WORRIED THAT PEOPLE DIDN'T RECOGNIZE
THE HAZARDS POSED BY FIRE. THE SAME CONCERN EXISTS TODAY.

couple of months ago, I
as a significant threat, and they don't
spoke at the 17th annual
readily take actions to ensure their own
Harry S. Truman Legacy
safety.
Symposium, an educaFire remains a huge issue. While we
tional conference that
continue to see a downward trend in the
revisits topics championed by President
number of fires occurring in the United
Truman. The theme for this year's event
States, the number of home fire fatalities
was Truman's legacy on fire prevention,
actually increased by 10 percent in 2016.
fire safety, and historic preservation, and
If you have a home fire today, you are
centered on the final report from the 1947
more likely to die than you were in 1980,
President's Conference on Fire Prevention.
according to NFPA statistics. We have
As I read Truman's address and docueven seen a backslide on critical safety
ments from the proceedings, I was
components such as jurisdictions not
struck by how safety advocates 70 years
using current codes, and even restrictWe are safer from
ago were dealing with the same chaling proven technologies like home fire
fire on the whole than
lenge we struggle with today. Namely,
sprinklers.
we were in 1947. But
how to get people to recognize fire
As these trends persist, we need to
with this success,the
as a threat and take action for their
think about safety differently. NFPA has
issue of complacency
own safety. "Thousands of lives are
begun to talk about it as the Fire & Life
has returned.
lost annually and tens of thousands
Safety Ecosystem, a framework for the
of people are injured in the many less
various components necessary to keep
spectacular fires which occur hour after
people and property safe. This ecosyshour and day after day, throughout the
tem can be the catalyst to help us take on
year," Truman said then, trying to steer
today's fire prevention challenges, just as
the public's attention to the true scope of the fire problem. President Truman's conference and the resulting report ignited
To take on the apathy of the time, public safety advocates action more than 70 years ago.
at the conference came up with several approaches in their
Almost all of the fire and life safety incidents we see today
final report, which have had dramatic positive results. They are the result of gaps in one or more cogs in the ecosystem.
expanded efforts to reach children and their teachers with We need to identify where these gaps are and work together
safety messages through every level of the educational system. to close them. So far, we are doing this by raising awareness
They improved public safety messaging, making it more visual about the ecosystem concept-including highlighting specific
and more entertaining, leading to the dawn of radio and film successes and failures-and by creating tools to help people
safety messaging. Attendees also called for better localized fire better understand and share this framework with others.
safety campaigns, resulting in more focus on the then rela- We are also challenging stakeholders to identify where they
tively new NFPA Fire Prevention Week, now the longest running specifically fit into the ecosystem and how they can do more
public health campaign in the country.
to impact loss. Through these and other efforts, we hope we
These approaches worked. Combined with advancements in can reframe safety and spark action. As President Truman and
public education, the use and enforcement of updated codes, others emphasized in 1947, everyone is responsible for safety.
and the widespread use of smoke alarms and other technolTo learn more about the Fire & Life Safety Ecosystem, visit
ogies, we are safer from fire on the whole than we were in nfpa.org/ecosystem.
1947. But with this success, the issue of complacency has
returned. As in 1947, people today generally do not view fire LORRAINE CARLI is vice president of outreach and advocacy for NFPA.

50 | NFPA JOURNAL * J U L Y /A U G U S T 2 0 1 9

MICHAEL HOEWELER

http://www.nfpa.org/ecosystem

NFPA Journal - July/August 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - July/August 2019