Metro West Fire Protection District Receives International Accreditation

The Metro West Fire Protection District of St. Louis County has been unanimously awarded the status as an “Internationally Accredited” Fire Protection Agency.  Accreditation is awarded through the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI) which has awarded this status to 144 agencies worldwide to date.  Achieving accredited agency status demonstrates our communities commitment to provide progressive, high quality fire, rescue and EMS Services.  The goal of the CFAI is to assist fire and emergency service agencies throughout the world in achieving excellence through self-assessment, accreditation, and continuous quality improvement in order to enhance service delivery to their communities.  “We are proud to be a part of such a vibrant community and to have achieved this significant recognition" said Vincent T. Loyal, Chief of Fire and EMS Services. 

The achievement of becoming Internationally Accredited is the culmination of three years of rigorous preparation by the entire fire staff of Metro West.  Furthermore, the process includes an intense scrutiny by the Center for Public Safety Excellence (CPSE).  On May 24^th, 2012, a team of fire service professionals recommended “Accredited Agency” status for the Metro West Fire Protection District following their four-day site visit.  The site visit, conducted by peer assessors from four states, confirmed that Metro West met all criteria established through the CFAI's voluntary self-assessment and accreditation program. The evaluation process included verification and validation of programs and services provided by the district, and in-depth reviews of polices, principles, and practices.  Chairman of the Board of Directors Tim Flora said after the hearing concluded “this process provided us an opportunity to review, document and evaluate all processes that impact our services.  By doing this we have learned that we meet or exceed industry standards in every area, which provides us an opportunity to plan for continued improvement through established benchmarks”.

At the Commission Hearings on August 2, the Metro West Fire Protection District was awarded with this prestigious award.  

Assistant Chief Edward Beirne, who served as the “Accreditation Manager” for the entire process said “I am incredibly proud to have led this project.  Our staff worked hard as a collective group to make this lofty goal become reality.  It speaks volumes that we are among a few in the region and the second agency in St. Louis County to have achieved this status”.