Yocha Dehe Fire Dept. Becomes First in Indian Country to Earn CFAI Accreditation

Last month, the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation’s fire department accomplished what few fire departments have accomplished: it earned its accreditation from the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI).

The CFAI program is a comprehensive self-assessment and evaluation model. As a benchmark, it allows fire departments to look at past, current and future service levels and performance and compare them to industry best practices.

It helps fire departments determine community risk and safety needs; evaluate the department’s performance; and establish a method for achieving continuous organizational improvement.

No other fire department in Indian Country has earned accreditation yet, and only 147 fire departments in the United States and Canada have been accredited.

Getting accredited was no easy feat for the Yocha Dehe Fire Department, which has 35 uniformed, full-time employees, three engines and other state-of-the-art fire and rescue equipment. It took six years of rigorous development, self-assessment and peer evaluation of its fire department’s administration, training, operational skills, documentation, equipment and facilities.

The accreditation is good for five years. During that period, the department must submit four Annual Compliance Reports that show that it is in compliance with the main performance indicators as well as report on progress made in carrying out its plan for improvement.

The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation is based in California’s Capa Valley. Its fire department, formed in 2003, provides fire protection, technical rescue and paramedic emergency services to the tribal community, the tribe’s Cache Creek Casino Resort and in surrounding areas. The department is guided by a 10-member fire commission.

"When we set out to build the Fire Department, we set the highest standards," Paula Lorenzo Tackett, tribal chairperson when the fire department was created, said in a press release.

"We were determined to build our fire department to complement services provided by the other departments in our region with whom we proudly work," said James Kinter, a member of the tribal council and Yocha Dehe Fire Commission Chairman.

The Chantilly, Va.-based Center for Public Safety Excellence, which the commission is part of, told AIR that no other tribe has pursued CFAI accreditation and none are in the process. It said via e-mail, “We hope that Yocha Dehe will set the example to others.”