Educating the public is a critical component of the fire service, and LAFC have a vital role in fire education for their communities. The OFC supports departments in public education activities by providing a number of resources. The following information is also available via our OFC public education webpage:

• Position Papers (aimed at providing consistent messaging throughout the province)
• Fire Prevention Week (during campaign)
• Public Safety Bulletins
• Fire and Life Safety Brochures
• Burn Awareness Week (during campaign)
• Getting to Know Fire Curriculum (a "Train the Trainer" model)

In addition, the OFC develops and administers the Juvenile Fire Setter Intervention Program (JFS), which consists of two levels and a training workshop for use by fire departments and other agencies within communities to help address the concerns with juvenile fire setting incidents. If an LAFC wants to coordinate such a training workshop, OFC can deliver the JFS training module to your community. For optimal results, we recommend multiple agencies’ involvement, such as police, educators, social workers, and fire officials, in the workshop.

While public education is not specifically mandated by the Fire Services Act, OFC staff will provide any support to the LAFC in delivering this fire prevention information, which forms the basis of the Fire Services Act and the central mandate of the OFC.

If you need further information on any of the above programmes,

please contact:

Public Education Coordinator
Toll free telephone: 1-888-988-9488
OFC@gov.bc.ca