Evaluation of Vulnerable Communities Resilience Project For Fire & Rescue NSW: Final Report

There is a growing recognition in Australia for emergency services agencies to be more proactive in the community to prevent fire incidents from occurring especially by high risk population groups. Older people who live on their own have a high risk of house fires and fire-related injuries and fatalities. They are almost three times more at risk from fire compared to the rest of the population. The most common causes of the fires are unattended cooking, careless smoking, heating and electrical appliances. In addition, it was identified that for most of these aged people they did not have working smoke alarms. The Home Fire Resilience Program (HFRP) was conducted in New South Wales to address the issue by engaging vulnerable older people in emergency preparedness, building resilience and reducing risks of fires and fire related injuries and fatalities. The evaluation began in February 2016 at the completion of the program and was conducted over three months, concluding in May 2016. Quantitative and qualitative data for the evaluation were collected mainly from representative of the three agencies, FRNSW, NSWFR and ARC. Data collection was through the following methods: gathering all available program documentation including training kits, home visit materials, pre-, during and post client survey questionnaires; evaluator’s observation and participation in forums and informal interview with program agencies and their team members; evaluator also designed a questionnaire directed as agency participants – volunteers with the ARC, FRNSW and NSW firefighters and program staff – at the completion of the program to gauge their perspectives on the program.