CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Office of the State Fire Marshal wants residents to help determine what the biggest fire-related issues are in the state.
The fire marshal’s office is launching its new Home Safety Survey, a 10-question assessment for homeowners and renters. The survey is designed to give participants help staying safe and provide important data to the fire marshal.
“It will provide some immediate safety advice based on the responses that the participants give during the assessment. What’s key for us is being able to collect this data county by county statewide,” state fire marshal Ken Tyree said.
The assessment gives respondents information on things like emergency planning and potential hazards based on the answers given. The fire marshal’s office plans to take those answers and determine how to help local fire departments prepare for risks.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to assist counties and fire departments within the counties with some additional outreach based on the results of these assessments,” Tyree said.
The fire marshal’s office notes the survey only takes about five minutes to complete and is accessible on mobile devices like cell phones and tablets. Tyree hopes to see a strong response so his team can get to work.
“I’d like to see at least a quarter of our households here in the state of West Virginia knock this out before the end of the year so we’re looking at 180,000-200,000 households that we’d like to impact,” he said.
Children and seniors are among the most at-risk groups for fire danger and Tyree is working on plans to make sure they take the assessment. In addition to outreach to partner groups, the survey could be included alongside things like utility bills.
“We look to try to do some outreach and collaboration with partners like the secondary school system–kids obviously are important–families, and senior and elderly population partners,” Tyree said.
The ultimate goal of the survey is to turn the collected data into trends that local fire departments can use for education and preparation. Tyree plans to make sure those firefights benefit from this initiative.
“If we can, at the local level, get them the greatest and most help, we want to do that and that’s what our hope is,” he said.
The Home Safety Survey is available now at firemarshal.wv.gov.