January 10, 2003 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (SH2003-01) FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION R. Steve Huffman Public Information Officer (251) 208-5806/Fax: (251) 208-5813 E-Mail: huffman@cityofmobile.org MOBILE FIRE-RESCUE DEPARTMENT PASSES FIRST STEP TO ACCREDITATION Mobile Fire-Rescue Department has completed the first stage to becoming an accredited fire department. Evaluators from the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI) were in Mobile from Sunday, January 4 until Thursday, January 9, 2003 to conduct tours of department facilities, conduct interviews, evaluate equipment, policies etc. to determine if Mobile Fire-Rescue Department met qualifications to become an accredited fire department. Mobile Fire-Rescue Department has been in the "Application Level" for the pass 2 years preparing for the visit. This week the department was elevated to the "Candidate Level" of the process. The evaluators gave a report to the department on Thursday, January 9, 2003 of their findings and advised they would make the recommendation to the Board of Commissioners that the department receive accreditation in August of 2003 when the commission meets in Dallas, Texas. Presently there are 65 departments accredited in the country. Mobile will become the first fire department in the State of Alabama. Mobile would also be one of the few cities in the country that has both an accredited fire and police department. The mission of the Commission on Fire Accreditation International is to assist the fire and emergency service agencies throughout the world in achieving excellence through self-assessment and accreditation in order to provide continuous quality improvement and enhancement of service delivery to their communities. The Commission on Fire Accreditation grants accreditation to fire and emergency service agencies upon the successful completion of an in-depth self-assessment, and on-site evaluation. The CFAI self-assessment process has been under development for over 15 years and has involved hundreds of fire service professionals. More information can be found on their web site at www.cfainet.org/ ###