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The city of Fort Myers Fire Department awarded international accreditation
By Bryant Monteilh
April 18, 2025 at 3:50 PM EDT
The City of Fort Myers Fire Department recently earned a prestigious honor when they were awarded Accredited Agency status with the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI).
The department met the criteria established through the CFAI’s voluntary self-assessment and accreditation program.
“It's a major, major accomplishment for this organization that was created in 1901 to now be accredited," Fort Myers Fire Chief Tracy McMillion said. "It’s huge.”
The achievement makes them one of just over 300 agencies worldwide and only the third in Lee County to receive such accreditation.
David Jacobs is the assistant chief of professional standards for the Fort Myers Fire Department and spearheaded the efforts.
“I hope that it shows our commitment and dedication to the community, going through this process and really being transparent and truly self-accessing ourselves in all these different categories. This process is a huge achievement and super proud of it. And my job was to merely keep the train on the tracks. A lot of the category managers did the bulk of the work and I thank them for all of that as well as the chief’s leadership," Jacobs said.
The Fire Department began the accreditation journey in 2024 and worked diligently to meet the CFAI’s comprehensive criteria. McMillion said the process is all about improving the quality of service to the community.
“You’re not required by any means to do this," Chief McMillion said. "We just want to have that validation, that licensure, that true stamp of validation for an outside entity to say yes, your fire department is good at what they do and we have identified some areas in which they can improve, and then we can be transparent with our community and say, hey look we’re working on trying to be better at these particular areas that were recommended that we strengthen."
The process helps departments plan strategically and proactively identify opportunities to enhance operations and services. The accreditation is good for five years.
WGCU is your trusted source for news and information in Southwest Florida. We are a nonprofit public service, and your support is more critical than ever. Keep public media strong and donate now. Thank you.
The department met the criteria established through the CFAI’s voluntary self-assessment and accreditation program.
“It's a major, major accomplishment for this organization that was created in 1901 to now be accredited," Fort Myers Fire Chief Tracy McMillion said. "It’s huge.”
The achievement makes them one of just over 300 agencies worldwide and only the third in Lee County to receive such accreditation.
David Jacobs is the assistant chief of professional standards for the Fort Myers Fire Department and spearheaded the efforts.
“I hope that it shows our commitment and dedication to the community, going through this process and really being transparent and truly self-accessing ourselves in all these different categories. This process is a huge achievement and super proud of it. And my job was to merely keep the train on the tracks. A lot of the category managers did the bulk of the work and I thank them for all of that as well as the chief’s leadership," Jacobs said.
The Fire Department began the accreditation journey in 2024 and worked diligently to meet the CFAI’s comprehensive criteria. McMillion said the process is all about improving the quality of service to the community.
“You’re not required by any means to do this," Chief McMillion said. "We just want to have that validation, that licensure, that true stamp of validation for an outside entity to say yes, your fire department is good at what they do and we have identified some areas in which they can improve, and then we can be transparent with our community and say, hey look we’re working on trying to be better at these particular areas that were recommended that we strengthen."
The process helps departments plan strategically and proactively identify opportunities to enhance operations and services. The accreditation is good for five years.
WGCU is your trusted source for news and information in Southwest Florida. We are a nonprofit public service, and your support is more critical than ever. Keep public media strong and donate now. Thank you.