Kissimmee Fire Department earns accreditation

After a three-year process, the Kissimmee Fire Department has earned an accreditation from the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI).

By voluntarily seeking accreditation, which came out of a lengthy process, KFD ensures it stays up-todate on industry standards, follows best practices—all in the name of keeping citizens and fire personnel safe.

“Being accredited allows us to remain at the forefront of the fire service and provide the best possible service to our citizens,” KFD Chief Jim Walls said. “International fire service accreditation has become the Gold Standard of performance in the industry. This model of self-assessment examines everything we do as an organization.”

The process started in 2021, when KFD held a public meeting to get details on what the community expects out of the fire department.

“For the first time, we had that community input,” Walls said. “We’re doing all of these things anyway, but this process helped us looking at everything that goes into what we do, and then do an operation-wide diagnostic.”

That input, from both inside and outside the ranks, was key to completing the self-assessment that set benchmarks for anticipated service and allow for a response to 250 individual performance indicators which cover all aspects of the fire department, from its legal standing to field operations.

Tracking all that helped put mechanisms in place to find inefficiencies. For example, by improving processes that occur between getting a response call and a unit leaving a station, KFD was able to shed a minute or two off response times “right off the bat,” Walls said.

“Then we track them quarterly, so there can be continual improvement. It almost forces you to,” he added.

With that completed, a Center for Public Safety Excellence assessment team came to Kissimmee in November 2023 for four days to review all documents and validate the findings KFD found and turned in for review, and made a final judgment on the department’s credibility, based on those findings.

“That we are, in fact, doing what we say we’re doing,” Walls said of the process.

The assessors came back with 16 recommendations— and a nod for accreditation. Walls said the agency has completed eight of the recommendations and will have them all completed by the end of the year.

This culminated with a hearing held by the CFAI Board for final review and acceptance of KFD’s accreditation on Feb. 27. Annually, KFD will be required to processes, and every five years return for further peer review, in order to maintain the accreditation.

Accreditation Manager John Rooney and Assistant Accreditation Manager Lt. Jeff Booher were instrumental in the process.

“We are incredibly proud of the dedication and hard work of our team to achieve full accreditation,” Walls said.

Kissimmee Fire Chief Jim Walls (center with plaque) accepts the Commission on Fire Accreditation International from the Center for Public Safety Excellence assessment team Feb. 27.