January 2, 2001

PRESS RELEASE

To: Newsroom

For Immediate Release

Contact: Brian A. Crawford, Public Information Officer

Phone: 673-6652, cell: 455-2609, page: 675-2137

Fire Department Unveils New and Improved Web Site

Site also sporting new and easier address - The Shreveport Fire Department is starting the new year off by revealing its high tech side. The department’s web site has recently gone through a complete overhaul, including the addition of a new address: shreveportfire.org. "When designing the site, we tried to make it as user friendly and enjoyable as possible, while still providing the visitor with needed information," says department spokesperson and web site architect Brian Crawford. Some of the changes that the browser will find have been developed to make the site more attractive to guests, department members, and those seeking employment, such as:

• Emergency Scene Picture Gallery - click on the house fire photo icon

This picture gallery contains up-to-date photos and information (date, place, SFD companies involved ) for incidents that include fires, motor vehicle accidents, EMS calls, and search and rescue. Once in the gallery you can enlarge the photos by double clicking on the picture. The photos can also be copied and printed from most computers.

• Public Information Page

This page contains all press releases sent to the media in a chronological order. Just click on the words Public Information Page in the horizontal column below the Fire Chief’s picture. Once on the Public Information Page, click on 2000 or 2001 and it will reveal all of the press releases for that year - then just click on the one you want to read.

• Marque Picture with Department Links

The marque picture, which is the first object to appear, features firefighters and the SFD patch. On the top and bottom of the marque are links to the department’s respective divisions such as, FIRE, COMMUNICATIONS, TRAINING, PREVENTION, EMS, etc., Just click on the division you want information on and the site will take you there.

• Employment - click on the employment picture icon

Statistics have shown that more than 70% of visitors to a municipal department web site are those seeking employment information. This page gives the browser recruitment information, fire academy photos of basic training (to enlarge photos, double click on picture - they can also be copied or printed), and allows them to download a Civil Service employment application.

• KIDS FUN - click on the cartoon fire extinguisher icon entitled "KIDS FUN"

The KIDS FUN icon is hyper-linked to the Unites States Fire Administration Kids Page: www.usfa.fema.gov/kids/. The kid’s page is full of fun activities for children that teach fire safety.

• Fire Department Information Scroll

This information crawls across the top of the web site in a Wall Street, ticker tape fashion, and provides visitors with relevant and timely information.

The site is not completely through its renovation. Those changes should be made in the upcoming months. Things to look for in the future are fire station locations with corresponding pictures; audio access to actual real time fire department radio transmissions as well as a listing of emergency incidents in progress; and a web fire department newsletter (hard copy will also be available).

Crawford says the new address was necessary because the old one was simply to long for people to remember. The new address is easily conveyed, so much so that there is a good chance that it will be on the fire trucks before the year’s end. We think it’s a great idea for the citizens and department members to be able to go to the site and access additional fire department information that they may require, adds Crawford.

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