Over the last few weeks we have seen the men and women of the Meridian Fire Department continue their efforts to serve the community with their guiding principles of professionalism and compassion on display. Their efforts led to department promotions, individual and group awards, and being the first Fire Department in Idaho to achieve Accredited Agency status.

As the department grows and evolves, it is exciting to see those in the department advance their roles by elevating to Engineers and Captains. We recently had 12 individuals promote in the department to these needed leadership roles. This is an important part of making sure we have the ability to respond to calls for service from the community.

Additionally, the department also spent time honoring the accomplishments of the department by providing two Unit Citations, eleven Distinguished Service Awards, two Chief’s Award of Excellence, and Employee of the Year awards. These were provided to those who went above and beyond in their service to the department and our community.

Although all the promotions and accolades are worthy of sharing, it’s always a great moment when we can recognize those who have dedicated their career to serving Meridian. We had one individual receive their 25 years of service, John Overton, and eight individuals receive their 20 years of service: Joe Bongiorno, Brandon Medica, Lance Witt, Coit Souza, Luke Smillie, Marty McSherry, Darby Hill, and Chad Coltrin. Thank you to each of you. If you want to see some of the key highlights from their recent Awards Ceremony, you can visit their Facebook page, here.

The great accomplishments of these individuals are a testament to the overall commitment to this organization’s success. After a two-year effort, last week the Meridian Fire Department officially received Accredited Agency status with the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI). There are only approximately 300 agencies to achieve Internationally Accredited Agency status with the CFAI and the Center for Public Safety Excellence, Inc. (CPSE), with the Meridian Fire Department being the first in the State of Idaho.

What does this actually mean? Well, similar to an accredited university, this provides a great level of credibility to our department’s standards and reporting. The CFAI process is voluntary and provides an agency with an improvement model to assess their service delivery and performance internally, and then work with a team of peers from other agencies to evaluate their completed self-assessment. In addition to the evaluation and technical reviews, this process was the catalyst to developing Meridian Fire’s Strategic Plan, Community Risk Assessment and Standards of Cover. These are guiding documents and a proactive mechanism to planning the goals and future of the Meridian Fire Department which locate key areas where we can improve on the quality of services our residents deserve and expect.

I hope you will join me in saying congratulations to the Meridian Fire Department employees on their individual and group accomplishments. I also encourage you to say thank you for the service they provide every day and their commitment to be better in what they do. They are a dedicated to our community and this team is something to be proud of.