CMAFS fire department awarded international accredited status

Published Aug. 27, 2013
By Chris Soliz
Cheyenne Mountain Fire and Emergency Services

CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN AIR FORCE STATION, Colo. -- The Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station fire department has received Accredited Agency status with the Commission on Fire Accreditation International for meeting criteria established through the CFAI's voluntary self-assessment and accreditation program.

The CMFES is one of only nine Air Force fire departments and 171 international agencies to achieve Internationally Accredited Agency status with the CFAI and the Center for Public Safety Excellence, Inc.

"I'm extremely proud of our firefighters," said Col. Travis Harsha, CMAFS and 721st Mission Support Group commander. "This accreditation validates their exceptional professionalism, reliability and commitment to excellence."

CFAI is dedicated to assisting fire and emergency service agencies throughout the world in achieving excellence through self-assessment and accreditation. The accreditation also provides continuous quality improvement and enhancement of service delivery to communities.

The CFAI process is voluntary and provided CMFES an improvement model to assess their own service delivery and internal performance.

"This interoperability and standardization also allows CMAFS firefighters to work seamlessly alongside other firefighters in response to disasters like the Black Forest fire, and any other emergency event," said Chris Miller, CMFES fire chief. "This has the effect of building community bonds and instilling confidence across the DOD and civilian communities."

To receive accreditation, the CMFES firefighters and staff worked for three years to evaluate and improve every aspect of their fire department operations.

"Thousands of hours were dedicated to analyzing operational performance, ensuring compliance with industry standards, validating innovative and effective processes and strengthening community partnerships," added David Arcilla, CMFES assistant chief and accreditation manager.

The accreditation is something few fire departments have achieved throughout the DOD and the world.

"As the 10th accredited agency in Colorado (out of about 336 fire departments), this demonstrates our commitment to provide the highest quality service and efficient use of resources to the DOD and our local community," added Miller.

The processes are also valuable when defending their home installation within Cheyenne Mountain's granite depths by analyzing performance and improving response times, allowing for better and more efficient fire protection.

"We have used the Commission on Fire Accreditation International's process as a proactive mechanism to plan for the future of this agency and locate areas where we can improve on the quality of the services we provide," said Arcilla.

Cheyenne Mountain firefighters receive national accreditation