NEW! SFPE Foundation Announces THREE New WUI Consulting Opportunities
"Beyond Parcel-Level Risk Assessment & Mitigation: Engaging Fire Service & Community Stakeholders"
Proposals Due: 11:59 pm ET on Monday, January 8, 2024
Project Background
The SFPE Foundation currently holds a FEMA Fire Prevention & Safety Grant (FY2022) to create an expanded WUI Virtual Handbook with updated and new content, a template for risk assessment based on best practices, and a robust suite of supporting materials to help fire service personnel communicate with property owners and community leaders about fire risks and parcel-level and community-level mitigation strategies to reduce wildland-urban interface (WUI) fire losses.
As WUI communities grow, and WUI fires proliferate, more fire departments with very little experience in WUI fires and/or a shortage of personnel and resources will be called on to protect their communities. Adopting strategies now to prioritize mitigation that slows or prevents fire spread is critical. At the same time, research increasingly shows that mitigation strategies focused on parcel-level structural hardening alone are insufficient; we need to factor in community-level exposure possibilities and local context and get individual and community buy-in to make important changes. The fire engineering community can help meet these needs by providing fire departments with more persuasive materials–grounded in science-based engineering methods–to convince property owners, developers, and community leaders to make the changes needed to better protect against WUI fire threats. When paired with communications tools targeting property owners, developers, businesses, and community leaders, this guidance can be an essential resource for fire departments to demonstrate the value of investment in WUI fire safety.
To that end, this project will expand and revise the existing SFPE Foundation WUI Virtual Handbook to make it a more flexible tool that can be utilized for a wider range of needs, including (1) training property inspectors, (2) conducting WUI property assessments, (3) engaging with homeowners regarding WUI risks and mitigation activities, and (4) engaging community leaders in understanding WUI fire risks and potential mitigation activities. It will be designed to meet the needs of more- and less-experienced departments and to empower fire service personnel to reduce community risk while raising awareness of complementary tools, resources, and training available through organizations operating in this space.
Request for Proposals: Three Consulting Positions
We are soliciting proposals for three separate consultants to be contracted under this grant. Applicants may submit proposals for multiple open consulting positions, but we will not select the same consultant for more than one contract. Applicants will not be advantaged by submitting “team” proposals that propose to take on two or three of the consulting contracts as a group. Each consultant wishing to be considered must submit their proposal independently to the relevant opening: Engineering Technical Consultant, Engineering Risk Consultant, or Web Developer and Creative Consultant. For a full description of the RFP for each of the three open positions, please click the appropriate link under each description below.
1. Engineering Technical Consultant ($70,000 USD)
In this request for proposals (part 1 of 3), we are seeking an experienced Engineering Technical Consultant (ETC) who will be responsible for all updates and expansions of the handbook. The ETC will review and update existing technical content in the handbook; develop a new section on community-level vulnerabilities and mitigation tactics; and create a basic checklist template that’s integrated with the handbook’s various sections. They will work with a Web Developer and Creative Consultant (WDCC), contracted separately, to source images, create graphics, and develop one-page flyers to accompany existing and new content; they will also advance functional improvements to the handbook in both web-based and PDF formats. With the support of SFPE Foundation staff and an Engineering Risk Consultant (ERC), the ETC will also lead the planning of two virtual workshops to solicit feedback on the revised and expanded content, as well as plan four in-person pilot implementations of the handbook with fire departments in Colorado, Idaho, Kentucky, and one other US state to be named at a later date. After the final version of the revised handbook is completed, incorporating feedback from the pilots and project personnel, the ETC will work with the WDCC to create four brief videos providing guidance on how to use the handbook (1) as a training tool, (2) to conduct property assessments, (3) to engage with property owners, and (4) to engage with community leaders.
Download the full request for proposals, including instructions for submission, here:
DOWNLOAD THE RFP
2. Engineering Risk Consultant ($35,000 USD)
In this request for proposals (part 2 of 3), we are seeking an experienced Engineering Risk Consultant (ERC) to formally evaluate the risk reduction potential of implementing the revised handbook in WUI communities across the US. The ERC will attend all four pilot implementations of the revised handbook, and they will work closely with the Engineering Technical Consultant, the Web Developer and Creative Consultant (WDCC), the Project Advisory Panel, and SFPE Foundation staff. They are expected to develop a plan for evaluating the impact of utilizing the revised handbook with target audiences and estimating the potential for WUI property fire risk reduction as a result of implementation (including quantitative and qualitative approaches); recommendations for areas of improvement with respect to the handbook’s content (including recommending case study examples that show how engineering-based guidance can improve outcomes); and guidance on where (and with whom) we should prioritize implementing the use of the revised handbook to have the greatest impact.
Download the full request for proposals, including instructions for submission, here:
DOWNLOAD THE RFP
3. Web Developer & Creative Consultant ($55,000 USD)
In this request for proposals (part 3 of 3), we are seeking an experienced Web Developer & Creative Consultant (WDCC) who will be responsible for designing and creating the required communications materials for outreach to property owners and community leaders that will accompany the revised version of the handbook; developing the design and implementing the interface for new handbook components; expanding the web-based version of the handbook to incorporate the new content produced by the Engineering Technical Consultant (ETC) leading the project; providing a final PDF version of the revised handbook that can be downloaded for offline use; improving the user experience and function of the web-based version of the tool; and producing four short informational videos providing guidance on how to use the handbook (1) as a training tool, (2) to conduct property assessments, (3) to engage with property owners, and (4) to engage with community leaders. The WDCC will work closely with the ETC and the Engineering Risk Consultant, as well as the Advisory Panel and SFPE Foundation staff throughout the project.
Download the full request for proposals, including instructions for submission, here:
DOWNLOAD THE RFP
Deadline for All Submittals: 11:59 pm ET on Monday, January 8, 2024
Direct submissions and inquiries to Dr. Leslie Marshall, SFPE Foundation Director, at foundation@sfpe.org. No phone calls, please.