Roseboro Fire Chief Lee Coleman talks to town board members about new approaches the fire department is utilizing to increase Community Risk Reduction.

Roseboro Fire Chief Lee Coleman talks to town board members about new approaches the fire department is utilizing to increase Community Risk Reduction.

<p>Dustin Carter</p>
                                 <p>Courtesy Photo</p>

Dustin Carter

Courtesy Photo

Seeking to increase education on safety and risk reduction practices among citizen in the community, members of the Roseboro Fire Department announced they are bringing the U.S. Fire Administration’s Community Risk Reduction (CRR) program to town.

The introduction of the program was announced by Roseboro Fire Chief Lee Coleman during his presentation to the town board at its recent commissioners meeting. During those talks, Coleman said the desire to bring the program to Roseboro stemmed from the success they had with getting smoke detectors for their residents.

“This is something we’re going to be doing for the next couple of years, so this isn’t a one-time thing,” Coleman said. “Last year, we got a grant for smoke detectors where we got 54 smoke detectors and we put those up. We found an entire area that was in need of them, and after we completed that we got a lot of positive feedback. And so, our thoughts after that were, how can we build off of this?”

It was during that brainstorming that Coleman and fellow firefighter Dustin Carter began researching the Community Risk Reduction program.

“So myself and Dustin Carter, who’s a firefighter with the department, got to looking and found there is a program called Community Risk Reduction,” he explained. “It’s kind of like the umbrella term for fire education and fire prevention, and there’s even a Community Risk Reduction Week that runs Jan. 20 through Jan. 29.”

Coleman said the fire department, with Carter’s assistance, have already set up a social media page called Community Risk Reduction which details what they hope to accomplish through the program.

“What I’ll do is read just the first paragraph from our web page to give an understanding of exactly what our mission is,” he said. “The Roseboro Fire Department is dedicated to enhancing the safety and well being of our community through proactive community risk reduction initiatives. By identifying and addressing the unique risk faced by local residents, the department will work tirelessly to reduce the occurrence of and impact of fires, medical emergencies and other hazards through education, public outreach and collaborative partnerships.”

He continued, “The Roseboro Fire Department will ensure that our residents are equipped with the knowledge and resources needed to prevent accidents and respond effectively in times of crisis. This holistic approach not only strengthens community resilience, but also fosters a culture of safety and preparedness throughout the area.”

To fulfill that mission, Coleman said throughout this week the fire department was teaching the community about key risk reduction strategies through what they call the 5 E’s of fire prevention.

“So the week of Community Risk Reduction, which again, starts Monday, Jan. 20, we’ll be going through what we call the 5 E’s of fire prevention,” he said. “The E’s stand for and cover, education, engineering, enforcement, economic incentive and emergency response. Each day, we’re going to focus on one of those five E’s, and we’re just going to do a blitz campaign on Facebook, and everywhere we can, on things that you can do that can help reduce the risk for the public. And then, we’re going to carry this on throughout the future.”

Coleman said Carter, who’s helping with Community Risk Reduction, as the CRR officer that coordinates all fire prevention and smoke detector installation programs, was also working on a grant to help bring even more smoke detectors to Roseboro.

“He’s (Carter) applying for another grant in March for more smoke detectors,” Coleman said. “That’s something we also plan to do as a yearly initiative. Not only that, we’re looking at getting into schools more often, and not just during fire prevention week in October. We want to do more that just Community Risk Reduction this week also, it’s our desire to be doing something all throughout the year. And then, he’s (Carter) already working on stuff for the summer time.”

Coleman mentioned Carter’s name several times and concluded his presentation with a story on him, crediting Carter as the driving factor for how all this came to be.

“I tell you how this actually came about,” Coleman said. “He (Carter) is currently working on his fire science degree, as well as his firefighter certification. One day, I was in the computer looking for something I had done a couple weeks ago, and I found a four page letter he had written that said, ‘how we do our community risk reduction programs.

“So I asked him, what is this? He said to me, well, that’s something I did for school,” Coleman added. “When I asked why didn’t he show it to me? He said, I didn’t think you want it. Needless to say I did and I told him we’re doing this right now. So we got together, got him an office and a desk, and he’s already put a lot of stuff together for us, so you’re going to see a lot of stuff coming out for all we’re working on.”

Coleman said to see all they’re working on now and in the future to check their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/RoseboroFireDepartment

Reach Michael B. Hardison at 910-249-4231. Follow us on Twitter at @SamsponInd, like us on Facebook, and check out our Instagram at @thesampsonindependent.