Perhaps the most celebrated/distinguished recent event was in July when LFRA received Accreditation by the Commission on Fire Accreditation International on July 28th! Five members of LFRA traveled to Charlotte NC, to go before the Commission and answer questions regarding our organization and issues that were identified when the peer assessment team was here in May. It was an intimidating process, but I am exceptionally proud of the LFRA committee, and the Commission on Fire Accreditation voted unanimously to award LFRA Accredited status. This is the culmination of 3-4 years of much focused work and involvement by all members of LFRA, either directly or indirectly.
Although the goal to become accredited really started many years ago, it just took the right timing and right organizational culture to bring it to fruition. I was asked by the media, “What does this say about your organization?” Simply stated, it says we are an organization that is intentional about continuous improvement, in every aspect, from fireground operations, to policies and procedures, to response times, to external and internal relationships. That is an understatement in many ways…perhaps what it really says is that our members ROCK, including the LFRA Board who has been remarkably supportive in their commitment to the Authority and making us better. Enduring Greatness…
Special recognition to Chief Ty Drage for sticking with this commitment to help us become Accredited despite him having a dozen other irons in the fire in his new position. Thank you Chief Drage and thank you Lt. Engelhardt for taking the ball and running with it!
-Mark Miller, Fire Chief