Fire Is Everyone's Fight

High resolution graphics and a Graphic Usage Guide are now available. Please contact Teresa.Neal@fema.dhs.gov for copies.

The fire problem in the United States is an ongoing and continuous battle for the fire service and the public alike. According to the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), 81 percent of all fire deaths and 76 percent of all fire injuries occurred in residential buildings. Each year there is an estimated:

• 365,500 residential building fires reported to U.S. fire departments
• 2,560 deaths
• 13,275 injuries
• $6.6 billion in property loss

This is a call to action for USFA, fire and life safety partner organizations and the American public. We must join together to help reduce the number of home fires, and the resulting deaths, injuries and loss of property. We rely on the fire service to fight fires once they occur; however, the prevention of fires is up to all of us ... Fire is Everyone’s Fight.

"Fire is Everyone’s Fight"

Additional Video Formats, Transcript »

"Fire is Everyone’s Fight" is designed to unite the fire service and many others in a collaborative effort to reduce home fire injuries, deaths and property loss. It invites fire departments, safety advocates, community groups, schools and others to rally behind a common and compelling theme. USFA and its partners will communicate and reinforce key lessons across many proven fire safety and prevention initiatives and programs.

Partners Across the Nation – The Motivating Force

USFA recognizes the power of partnership as a critical means of marketing and delivering accurate and consistent safety messages into the community. "Fire is Everyone’s Fight" is based on social marketing research commissioned by the grassroots Vision 20/20 fire safety consortium with funding from an Assistance to Firefighters Grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. USFA is asking partners to use the “Fire is Everyone’s Fight” tagline with existing or new materials. Based on partner resources, they may implement a number of strategies, such as sharing information with staff, member organizations, community groups, and other stakeholders. By leveraging "Fire is Everyone’s Fight" resources, supporting dissemination or advertising efforts and encouraging state and local chapters to join in the initiative, the fire safety community can present a consistent, repetitive message that helps diverse members of our society take action to reduce their risk of fire. This includes support for public service announcement (PSA) placements, educational outreach to community organizations, local media relations activities and other activities.

Partners may:

• Incorporate the theme "Fire is Everyone’s Fight" into their existing fire prevention materials or create new fire prevention and safety materials with the theme.
• Provide a list of the audiences to which the partners reach out on a regular basis (older adults, parents, teachers, local businesses, etc.)
• Provide a list of communications tools that the partners have resources and access to produce (radio PSAs, TV PSAs, newsletters, websites, blogs, etc.)
• Help identify new tools and resources to fill gaps and strengthen outreach efforts.
• Identify barriers and challenges to address collaboratively.

"Fire is Everyone’s Fight" Resources

USFA will lead an effort to determine what resources are already available to the public as well as fire and life safety organizations, highlighting those that have been evaluated for effectiveness. Once this inventory of the materials is completed, USFA will work with its partners to identify the gaps. Where possible, USFA will develop new resources to meet key needs. Partners will be asked to use their resources as well to assist in filling these gaps and providing new information, products and/or materials to the public.

USFA will include a “Fire is Everyone’s Fight” web page and a range of trademarked graphics for use on partner materials. Other resources for partner discussion and sharing will be available via the “Fire is Everyone’s Fight” web page.

How You Can Support "Fire is Everyone’s Fight"

"Fire is Everyone’s Fight" is a national effort led by the U.S. Fire Administration. The fire safety and prevention network will grow as momentum builds with the support of many different organizations, communities and the public at large. This network will use a wide range of fire safety and prevention resources to communicate the importance of taking action to protect ourselves and the people we love from fire.

Learn how your organization can support the development of this exciting initiative and share your ideas with USFA about ways to help it grow in communities across America. For more information, contact: Teresa Neal at (301) 447-1024 or Teresa.Neal@fema.dhs.gov