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NEWS | Sept. 5, 2018

Fort Eustis Fire Department receives international accreditation status

By Senior Airman Tristan Biese 633rd Air Base Wing Public Affairs

The Fort Eustis Fire Department at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, received Internationally Accredited Agency status from the Commission on Fire Accreditation International, Aug. 10, 2018.

The Fort Eustis Fire Department is one of 250 agencies to achieve Internationally Accredited Agency status from the CFAI and the Center for Public Safety Excellence, Inc. There are 13 fire departments within the state of Virginia that have achieved accreditation.

The CFAI is dedicated to assisting fire and emergency service agencies around the world achieve excellence through self-assessment and accreditation. The CFAI’s process is voluntary, and provides an agency with a model to assess their performance internally, and then work with a team of peers from other agencies to evaluate their self-assessment.

“The [department’s] achievement of [Internationally] Accredited Agency status demonstrates the commitment of the agency to provide the highest quality of service to our community,” said Mark Sciacchitano, 733rd Civil Engineer Division director. “We have also been able to use the Commission on Fire Accreditation International’s process as a proactive mechanism to plan for the future of this agency, and locate areas where we can improve on the quality of the services we provide.” 

The Fort Eustis Fire Department previously achieved accredited status in 2013, where it was the second fire department within Air Combat Command to do so.

The department’s process to achieve accreditation status a second time started in 2017. There were more than 200 performance indicators that needed to be identified and answered before a team of peers could be assembled to determine if the department was ready for reaccreditation. 

By going through this process, the Fort Eustis Fire Department was able to identify areas where future growth could impact services rendered the community. In addition, they were able fine-tune outreach programs to better meet the needs of the people who live and work on, and visit Fort Eustis. 

“This entire process is about a commitment to continuous improvement,” said Dale Hankins, Fort Eustis Fire Department fire chief. “To look at our processes and services and identify ways to improve upon all aspects of our service delivery -- this benefits the government, the department but most importantly, the people we’re dedicated to protecting and serving on a daily basis.”