A target hazard are those areas of a community that stand the greates risk of fire and life loss (both, to the community, and emergency responders). Target hazards can change based on the community you live in, the population, and the amount and types of business/industry/education facilities in your area.
Here are 7 questions to ask in identifying target hazards in your community and, more specifically, your response area:
- What is our department's definition of a target hazard?
- What do we do with a target hazard that we do not do with a normal building/facility?
- How many licensed care facilities do we currently inspect?
- Are we inspecting these facilities on an annual basis?
- How do we track and add to or delete from the current target hazard list?
- Who is in charge of the target hazard program?
- What do we need to do to make this system better?
For more information read, Are you off the mark in finding target hazards?, from Fire Chief magazine.
Other resources:
- Drill of the Week: Target Hazards
- Suburban Firefighting: Target Hazards
- Desigining a Target Hazard Program
Sample Target Hazard Analysis:
