Connecting with the media; 2023 stats

By Marcy Ost

This month, the United States Fire Administration’s (USFA) messaging is “Close before you Doze.” Keep an eye on our social media for messaging you can share, but the USFA has resources here, and there’s a whole website dedicated to it sponsored by UL’s Fire Safety Research Institute here.

It was great to see the fire service of ND featured in the news so much this month. Especially for things other than fires! If you’re interested in upping your media exposure, there are many ways to make that happen. One is getting to know the North Dakota Newspaper Association (NDNA). A couple of services they offer are a media guide and press release distribution. 

Another group you might want to get to know is the North Dakota Public Information Officer Association (NDPIO). While many of their resources are for members ($50-100 per year), they do a quarterly online free training. Dates for 2024 are February 15, May 16, August 15 and November 21. Keep an eye on our CRR upcoming events calendar for more information.

Here’s a list of stories we spotted over the last month:

• Williston Police & Fire Battle in Blood Drive 
• West Fargo’s New Fire Dept Cutting Response Times 
• New program at Bismarck State College 
• Mayville Junior Fire Dept. 
• ND Fire Dip Slightly in 2023

We recently released a preliminary statistical report for 2023. As you all know, you have until the end of June to submit those reports, so we expect to see the numbers change, but that preliminary report does show a slight dip in fires from 2022. 

Other numbers of note are the increase in explosion from 107 to 167, which is a 56% increase. On the positive side, false alarms and unknowns have gone down. While we didn’t see a measurable decrease in rescue/EMS calls, they stayed steady rather than increased.