Download Unit 2 Essay Columbia Southern University Public and Private and more Lecture notes Accounting in PDF only on Docsity! Unit 2 Essay Columbia Southern University Public and Private organizations within the fire prevention and protection are very different when it’s compared with their characteristics, but they all have one purpose and that is to protect and provide education to the general public. A public organization in fire prevention are organizations that are interested the public welfare of citizens and not interested in the profit driven, who are looking to reduce insurance payouts. There are 2 organizations with the mission of fire prevention, they are Traditional Fire Prevention and Non-traditional fire prevention bureaus. Traditional Fire Prevention Bureaus functions include prevention, inspection, investigation and plan review. “Early fire prevention bureaus enforced locally developed fire prevention regulations by performing inspections” (Diamantes). Whereas non-traditional fire bureaus are not part of the fire department at all. Some fire departments do not have the staffing to provide a bureau, so they have government bodies come in and do prevention, inspection and investigations as well as plan reviews. “Some jurisdictions have located all inspection function within one agency.” (Diamantes). State Fire prevention and protection programs include code development, inspection, engineering services, and fire investigation services to different jurisdictions in the states. “In many cases, under the direction of the state fire marshal, provides basic services to rural areas without municipal services. State fire prevention offices are sometimes located within state insurance bureaus, state fire service training agencies, state forestry departments or state law enforcement agencies.” (Diamantes). Most of the major cities in South Carolina like Charleston and North Charleston have Fire Marshal divisions, but rural departments like Goose Creek do not and relay on the state to come in and investigate major fires. The South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division or SLED would come in to investigate any suspicious or arson related fire. Federal Government, in the beginning, had little interest in public education for fire prevention. Most efforts of the federal government were placed on protecting government property and ensuring the continuity of government functions. “Protection of the public from fire was, for the most part, an issue for the state and their political subdivisions.” (Diamantes). The federal government became interested in fire protection when certain government structures were not insured. The formation of the U.S Geological Survey Structural Materials Testing Laboratory started to conduct over 35,000 tests on structure components. “The first major federal program aimed at specifically reducing the fire threat to the general public was instituted in 1974.” (Diamantes). One other program that the federal government came up with was Smokey the Bear, which is used to teach the public about wild and forest fires. “Smokey does not hibernate, according to The Ad Council. Wildfire prevention keeps him busy year-round, even in winter, when the rest of his bear brethren are enjoying deep sleeps.” (Smokey). Smokey the bear and others like Sparky the Dog and Freddie the Fire Truck have helped teach children the importance of fire safety and fire prevention. National effects on fire prevention and protection created the U.S. Fire Administration in 1974. The USFA is to establish a national fire data system, monitor fire research, and provide block grant to state and local government for fire protection and prevention and for the establishment of the National Fire Academy. “The USFA’s efforts fall into four basic areas: public education; training for fire and emergency response personnel; fire safety technology, testing, and research; and the collection, analysis, and dissemination of pertinent data.” (Diamantes). Public fire prevention programs would not exist as we know them without the efforts of private sector fire prevention organizations. Private organizations are made up of insurances
