St. Cloud Plans to Use New Data Tool To Educate Public and Prevent Fires

(KNSI) – St. Cloud hopes to use a new fire analysis tool to better plan for emergencies and to educate the public. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety State Fire Marshal Division introduced the data to fire departments statewide.

St. Cloud Interim Fire Marshal Brett Young talked about how the department will use the data. “We’re evaluating everything right now. We’re trying to determine what are the high risk areas, the high risk populations, and anything that we can do as a campaign to the fire department to get out and make sure that we’re doing as much as we can for fire prevention and trying to prevent any of those dangerous fires from happening.”

He says they haven’t had that capability in the past. Young says the department is in the early stages of determining the best way to interpret the data. “It’s really built to target our education efforts and reduce our community risk. So, it is a great starting point for us. And, I think, it’s an awesome opportunity for local fire departments to get their hands on and utilize to help prevent fires in the future.”

The information will help the department narrow down which city blocks have the most fires and why.

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