The Renton Regional Fire Authority (RRFA) has joined nearly 400 other fire agencies from across the globe in achieving the Internationally Accredited Agency status with the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI).

“We have also been able to use the Commission on Fire Accreditation International’s process as a proactive mechanism to plan for the future of this agency and locate areas where we can improve on the quality of the services we provide to the Renton community,” said RRFA Fire Chief Steve Heitman in an announcement this month.

Chief Heitman also said that the achievement “demonstrates the commitment of the agency to provide the highest quality of service to our community.”

The CFAI assists fire and emergency service agencies in “achieving excellence through self-assessment and accreditation to provide continuous quality improvement and the enhancement of service delivery to their communities.” According to the press release, the CFAI process provides an agency with an improvement model to assess their service delivery and performance internally, and then works with a team of peers from other agencies to verify and validate their completed self-assessment.

“This accreditation has been years in the making for Renton RFA and included a vigorous multi-step process that brings together collaborative input for every division within the organization,” said RRFA Communications Manager Katie Lewis. “It also included a thorough on-site visit from a group of independent CFAI Peer Assessors who objectively examined all the process and procedures of the organization first-hand to provide valuable feedback.”

The RRFA will continue to review and analyze their policies, procedures, and service offerings to maintain their Accredited Agency status, with Lewis saying that Fire Authority will continue to provide the highest standard of service to the Renton community.

“We could not have achieved accreditation without the outpouring of support we’ve received from our community”, said Chief Heitman, “In recent years, Renton voters have secured our fire benefit charge and our property tax levy, ensuring fire and emergency service funding for years to come. That vote of confidence allowed us the opportunity to work toward this feat, and I am exceptionally proud to serve this community and this organization.”