The Wright City Fire Protection District (WCFPD) is pleased to announce Fire Chief Ron MacKnight has returned from a two-week course at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Md.MacKnight attended the course titled Executive Analysis of Community Risk Reduction (EACRR), which is part two of an exclusive four-year national Executive Fire Officer Program. The course focuses on the skills needed to implement and lead community risk-reduction initiatives.The course not only requires a two-week stay on campus at the Department of Homeland Security’s National Emergency Training Center, but also requires submission of a applied research project identifying challenges within the participant’s jurisdiction, and applying learned concepts to meet those challenges, due within six months after the course. Part of the EACRR course work includes building a demographic and risk profile of the home community.“By using data to examine our community, we can then proactively seek out ways to reduce risk in the community,” MacKnight says. One of the challenging aspects of the course is getting the students to broaden their mindsets.“We used to think of ourselves (the fire service) as reactionary, as solvers of people’s problems, and primarily, that problem was fire. We now see emergency services expanding their role, from natural and man-made disaster planning to hazardous materials response and even large-area search and rescues. We want to be prepared to meet those challenges in order to best serve our community.” The program is arduous but rewarding MacKnight says.“Balancing the day-to-day operations of a progressing fire district while simultaneously meeting the stringent requirements of the required research and the paper is tough,” he adds. “But the challenge adds value, not only personally, but to the district.”Once completed, Mac-Knight will be the first officer in the WCFPD to complete the program, which is something only about 3,500 other fire officers in the nation have done.Through its courses and programs, the National Fire Academy serves as the national focal point for the development and delivery of emergency services training to enhance the capabilities of responders, and to minimize the impact of disasters and emergencies on the American public.Wright City fire chief attends course at National Fire Academy