SPRINGDALE (KFSM) -- The Springdale Fire Department has been awarded an international accreditation.
The department has received Accredited Agency status with the Commission on Fire Accreditation International. This is an internationally recognized award that only 250 departments in the world have. It is a five-year process that shows the department where they are going and where they need to go.
"Basically it's our commitment to continuous quality improvement. We’ve kind of identified some of our weaknesses and a lot of our strengths and determined how we can improve on that," Capt. Dustin McDonald said.
McDonald said the department assessed their performance internally and worked with other agencies to evaluate their completed self-assessment. He said this type of accreditation shows the community that they can trust the Springdale Fire Department.
"It shows our dedication to the community, our customers, the citizens and how we want to do right by them and give them the best service that they expect," he said.
Fire Chief Mike Irwin said this is also something the firefighters and staff of the department can be proud of.
"I think one of the things is that it gives everyone in the organization an opportunity to look at what we’re doing and look at international standards and guidelines and say we’re doing what most fire departments should be doing. It just gives us that guidance. It's kind of the foot print of how we move forward in the future," he said.
The Springdale Fire Department is one of four departments in Arkansas to be given this accreditation. The other Arkansas departments are the Rogers Fire Department, Little Rock Air Force Base, Searcy Fire Department and the Little Rock Fire Department.