SPRINGFIELD, Ill- Governor JB Pritzker has proclaimed Monday, January 20, 2025, through Sunday, January 26, 2025, as Community Risk Reduction (CRR) Week in Illinois. CRR is a data-driven process to identify and prioritize local risks, followed by the integrated and strategic investment of resources (emergency response and prevention) to reduce their occurrence and impact.
“Illinois continues to be a leader in CRR thanks to the amazing work being done by fire departments across the state and our CRR taskforce,” said Illinois State Fire Marshal James A. Rivera. “The OSFM is committed to funding and supporting CRR work across the state, and we plan to continue to help build these programs which in the end will lead to safer communities across the state. I encourage communities of all sizes to learn about and engage in the CRR process, it can start with something small which can build into bigger programs in the future.”
According to crrweek.org, every 23 seconds, a fire department in the United States responds to a fire somewhere in the nation. In 2023, 79% of all fire deaths occurred in the home and home fires were responsible for 13,350 civilian injures, causing an estimated $23.2 billion in property damage. EMS calls continue to be around 70% of the reason for response from fire departments across Illinois, and nationally the fire service responds to a growing number of medical calls for service, surpassing 80% of total call volume in some communities.
The goal of CRR Week is to raise awareness among the fire service that implementing CRR concepts will make communities and departments safer. The idea of CRR week originated with individuals from various fire departments across the country. The focus of the week will be on the five “E’s” of CRR: Education, Engineering, Enforcement, Economic Incentive and Emergency Response. Any fire department or community, big or small, rural or metro, paid or volunteer can use CRR concepts to identify risks in their communities and start to plan how to reduce those risks. Monday, January 20, 2025, is Martin Luther King Day and is nationally recognized as a National Day of Service and an opportunity for communities to reduce the risk in their community through a series of educational and other programs.
The CRR process began in the state of Illinois in late 2019 and continues to grow through outreach efforts of the State of Illinois Community Risk Reduction Task Force and its members. The mission of the taskforce is to promote the importance of risk reduction in Illinois by inspiring community ownership and providing coordinated resources. To learn more about the task force and find CRR resources to help get a CRR program started in your community, visit illinoiscrr.com or follow on facebook at @IllinoisCRR.