SEMINOLE COUNTY, FL (February 28, 2024) – The Seminole County Fire Department (SCFD) is proud to announce it is now an Internationally Accredited Agency with the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI). To receive the accreditation, SCFD met or exceeded rigorous standards and criteria established through CFAI’s self-assessment and accreditation program.  

SCFD is one of more than 300 agencies, including 29 in Florida and nine in Central Florida, with International Accredited Agency status through CFAI and the Center for Public Safety Excellence, Inc. (CPSE).

Seminole County Fire Department now has three renowned accreditations: International Accredited Agency through CFAI, ISO Class 1 Rating through the Insurance Services Office, and CAAS Accreditation through the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services.

“This International Accredited Agency status demonstrates the commitment of our Seminole County Fire Department to provide the highest quality of service to our community,” said Jay Zembower, Chairman of the Seminole County Board of County Commissioners. “The Commission on Fire Accreditation International’s process is a proactive mechanism that helps our Fire Department maintain excellence while upholding accountability and conducting self-assessments on an annual basis.”

“We initially began our accreditation journey back in 2013 and quickly realized the daunting task that was ahead of us. This latest process unfolded over a two-year period with four project leads and all 574 members of SCFD involved,” said Seminole County Fire Chief Matt Kinley. “We are proud of this achievement as an entire team – especially as it comes on the heels of our 50th anniversary year of proudly serving the citizens of Seminole County. This accreditation is a testament to the hard work and commitment we have and have had since 1974.” 

CFAI is dedicated to assisting the fire and emergency service agencies throughout the world in achieving excellence through self-assessment and accreditation to provide continuous quality improvement and the enhancement of service delivery to their communities. The CFAI process provides an agency with an improvement model to assess their service delivery and performance internally, and then works with a team of peers from other agencies to verify and validate their completed self-assessment.

For more information on CFAI and its process, visit www.cpse.org/accreditation.