Diva fire safety campaign

DE MONTFORT UNIVERSITY

LEICESTER BUSINESS SCHOOL

How successful was the Diva Fire Safety Campaign?

RAK MISTRY

( BSc (Hons) Dip M )

A dissertation submitted in part requirement for the award of

MASTERS IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

August 2005

Jai Shree Krishna

We understand and respect that Hindu’s light a Diva in the presence of God. However for your own safety, for the safety of your family and home, please follow the advice as demonstrated.

SHREE SANATAN MANDIR & COMMUNITY CENTRE

84 Weymouth Street (Off Catherine Street), Leicester, LE4 6FQ Tel: (0116) 266 1402

Email: [email protected]

Chunri – Make sure you keep the Chunri well away from the Diva.

Children – Make sure the Diva is not easily reached by Children. They can burn their fingers and drop it causing a fire.

Overnight – DO NOT keep the Diva

unattended overnight.

Electric – Have you thought about using an Electric Diva?

Saree and Long Hair – Keep yourself well away. Previously

Saree’s and long hair have caught fire and

Garland – are highly inflammable as they are

made of Silk and Woodchip, so you must keep them away from the Diva and insure they are securely fastened and do

not fall on the Diva.

Ghee – Just put enough Ghee into the Diva, so you

do not leave the Diva unattended, making sure it

goes out.

HOW SUCCESSFUL WAS THE DIVA FIRE SAFETY CAMPAIGN?

RAK MISTRY

EXECUTIVE MBA AUGUST 2005


Executive MBA – R D Mistry

ABSTRACT

An exploratory study to document the Diva Fire Safety Campaign phenomenon. A

comprehensive review of literature in the fire safety education arena revealed that

there is lack of specific research on campaigns targeting ethnic minorities. This case

will demonstrate a specific campaign targeting the fire safety message to the Hindu

Gujarati community of Leicester, UK. The approach and method used by Leicester

Fire Service will be documented and a variety of methods were used to investigate

the outcomes of the campaign.

The Diva Fire Safety Campaign was well received by its audience and a variety of

primary and secondary data confer its success. The approach used by Leicester Fire

Service of working in partnership with the Community was justified. The case

illustrates and confirms that having the Community advise, design and implement the

program in partnership with the Fire Service was a key element of its success. It

confirms the theory that to target ethnic minority groups in the fire safety arena it is

assumed that a strategy of involving the community would be effective.



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In preparing this MBA Dissertation project I would like to acknowledge a variety of

people who have made this possible from the provision of information, access to

sources and for general guidance and inspiration, in an area worthy of research:

Institutions

Fire Service College

Amanda Barnes, Richard Johnes

Leicestershire and Rutland Fire and Rescue Service

David Webb, Paul Percival, Paul Botterill, Amanda, David Campion

De Montfort University

Panos Andrikopoulos

Martyn Kendrick

Those involved in devising, planning, running and implementing the Diva Fire Safety

Campaign (DFSC)

Fire Fighters Steve Kisby (Originator of the DFSC), Carl Clayton

Diversity Community Advisor – Mina Patel

Community Leader – Rashmikant R Joshi, General Secretary

Shree Hindu Temple, St Barnabas Rd, Leicester.

DMU Placement Student – Minal Sikotra (Shree Sanatan Mandir Placement)

Field Work data collection

Mrs Hansa Mistry (my mum)


Executive MBA – R D Mistry 1

ABBREVIATIONS

DFSC Diva Fire Safety Campaign

DLTR Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions

FRS Fire Rescue Service

FSE Fire Safety Education

LFRS Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service

LFRSES Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service Eastern Station (1 Fire Brigade of a total 20 that LFRS operate)

NFPA National Fire Protection Association (US Fire Service representative body)

NFSC National Fire Safety Centre

OPDM Office Department of the Deputy Prime Minister



CONTENTS

DISSERTATION TITLE............................................................................................... 1

1.0 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................... 1

2.0 AIMS OF THE PROJECT .............................................................................. 3

3.0 BACKGROUND............................................................................................. 5

4.0 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................ 7

4.1 Key Findings from the Literature Review...................................................... 7

4.2 The regulatory environment in which the UK Fire Service operates .............. 9

4.3 Fire Safety Education (FSE) ........................................................................ 12

Table 1 Hierarchy of evaluation measures for community fire safety ........ 15

4.4 Ethnic Marketing & Marketing...................................................................... 18

4.5 Summary of Literature Review .................................................................... 22

5.0 RESEARCH QUESTIONS........................................................................... 23

6.0 METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................ 23

6.1 Research Strategy....................................................................................... 23

6.2 Sampling...................................................................................................... 25

6.3 Research Methods ...................................................................................... 26

6.4 Data Collection Methods.............................................................................. 26

6.5 Managing response rates ............................................................................ 27

6.6 Ethical, Political, Legal Considerations........................................................ 28

6.7 Problems encountered................................................................................. 29

6.8 What would I do differently? ........................................................................ 31

7.0 FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS ........................................................................ 32

7.1 Primary Data Analysis ................................................................................. 32

Table 2 – Gender distribution of Hindu respondents interviewed at Holi. .... 33

Figure 1 – Change in gender behaviour ......................................................... 34 Figure 2 – Has leaflet changed gender behaviour.......................................... 34 Figure 3 – Female ranked opinions on leaflet................................................. 35



Figure 4 – Male ranked opinions on leaflet..................................................... 35 Figure 5 – Awareness of DFSC...................................................................... 36 Figure 6 – Smoke alarm bought due to DFSC................................................ 36 Figure 7 – What genders cited the DFSC was ............................................... 36 Figure 8 – Preferred mode of communication vs. how aware of DFSC Females ....................................................................................................................... 37 Figure 9 – Preferred mode of communication vs. how aware of DFSC Males37 Figure 10 – Distribution by Age Groups ......................................................... 38 Figure 11 – Awareness by Age Group ........................................................... 38 Figure 12 – What is the Campaign about by age group ................................. 39 Figure 13 – Behaviour change by age group ................................................. 39 Figure 14 – Ranked opinions on DFSC Leaflet by age group ........................ 39

7.2 Qualitative Statements as attained from those involved in the Campaign ... 40

7.3 In depth interview Steve Kisby, Fire Fighter, Originator of DFSC ............. 41

7.4 Secondary Data Sources............................................................................. 44

7.5 Fire incident reporting data (Internal document) .......................................... 44

7.6 FIRE Safety Award – Memorandum from LFRS CFA................................ 44

7.7 Outreach Workers ....................................................................................... 44

8.0 CONCLUSION............................................................................................. 45

8.1 Fire Service perspective .............................................................................. 45

8.2 Individual Community Perspective............................................................... 46

8.3 Overall conclusion ....................................................................................... 47

9.0 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR HOST ORGANISATION................................ 48

10. FURTHER RESEARCH IDEAS................................................................... 50

11. 0 PERSONAL REFLECTIONS....................................................................... 51

11.1 How did I develop in the course of the project? ........................................... 51

11.2 What advice would you offer to someone undertaking this project in the

future? ......................................................................................................... 52

11.3 What personal lessons I have learnt?.......................................................... 52

APPENDICES

BIBLIOGRAPHY



DISSERTATION TITLE

How successful has the Diva Fire Safety Campaign been in communicating the fire

safety message to the Hindu Gujarati community of Leicester and is there a need for

this sort of targeted campaign?

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Within this dissertation, I will evaluate a particular fire safety campaign, which targets

a specific group of people in the community of Leicester. The campaign I am going to

evaluate is the Diva Fire Safety Campaign (DFSC) which commenced May 2004 and

is now an ongoing seasonal campaign, targeting the Hindu Gujarati community of

Leicester. The reason for looking at this campaign is that it was the first time I came

across a public service body (the fire and rescue service) coming out to the

community at a religious event to communicate a health and safety issue; an issue

that can affect the Hindu community with severe and often fatal consequences.

The Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service Eastern Station (LFRSES) were

concerned with the number of house fires caused accidentally by unattended divas,

both recently and historically within the Hindu community. In the past 12 months,

LFRSES had been called out to 25 fires caused by candles 1 and a total of 5 people

died in Leicester as a result of an unattended Diva fire earlier in the year, in April

2004.

A diva is similar to a candle; members of the Hindu faith as part of their daily prayers

usually light it for religious significance. During the festival of Navratri and Diwali, the

number of divas lit will be much more in number. The occurrence of a fire is much

greater at this time, as Divas will be left unattended in rooms in the house as part of a

cultural tradition to celebrate the victory of good over evil.

The diva is in a small container filled with ghee (purified butter), with a wick made

from cotton wool. Once lit, it is left to burn out and is not extinguished once prayers

1 Hawley, Liz (2004), “Candlelight Prayer appeal to warn of blaze dangers”, Leicester Mercury .



are complete. The diva is placed in a shrine (Mandir/Temple), which is surrounded

with pictures, garlands and miniature god like statues. The fire threat posed is in

leaving the diva(s) unattended or near items that can easily catch fire in houses

where there is no smoke alarm. A total of 6 people died as a result of Diva fires in

Diwali period last year (Odpm, 2002). Appendices 1 – 9 show all the background

details to the case in a chronological date order.

During the Hindu nineday festival of Navratri in October 2004, the LFRSES

conducted a fire safety talk to an audience of 800 people at Shree Prajapati Samaj

Community Hall in Leicester. Two Fire safety officers in English conducted the talk.

They wanted to highlight the potential risk of fires from divas and they had devised a

bilingual leaflet (Appendix 1) in conjunction with Shree Sanatan Mandir to

communicate the Diva Fire Safety message and the need to have working smoke

alarms in the House.

They emphasized that the youngsters and adults who understood English should

explain and reiterate the fire safety message to others in the community, who may

have little knowledge or understanding of the English language. The aim of the

LFRSES was to raise awareness of the risks surrounding Divas and to ultimately

prevent fires and deaths. They ended the talk by wishing all the community members

a happy Navratri and to have a peaceful, firefree festival. They then hand delivered

800 leaflets to the community members who were at this event. I was one of those

members who received a leaflet.

The leaflet pictorially showed the diva in the place of a shrine and the areas where

fire risk was greatest. It was produced in colour and on one side of the leaflet

information was in English and the other side was in Gujarati, the native language of

all the members of that community.

I was inspired by both the leaflet and the fire talk and wanted to find out if this

campaign had worked in getting the fire message to the target audience and to look

at this campaign in more detail. From the viewpoint of an outsider looking at the fire

service, from an individual community perspective, as I am a member of one of the



Community groups that the talk was given to (a total of ten similar fire talks were

given to similar sized Community groups).

From the outset it must be clarified that this research project will look at just one

segment of the ethnic market i.e. the Hindu Gujarati community of Leicester, which

makes up 14% of the population of Leicester 4 . The lighting of Divas is only particular

to the Hindu, Sikh and Jain faith. Whilst many Sikhs, Jains also light divas as part of

their religion, the DFSC was not targeted to such groups due to a) available

resources/funds and b) the fact that they do not use divas as frequently as the Hindu

faith based on fires that had happened previously.

The DFSC is the first of its kind in targeting a Fire Safety message to this particular

community. Since its launch in Leicester, the DFSC has received a considerable

amount of publicity, praise and has involved a high number of people from the

community and the Fire Service. It has received local and national recognition and

has won a prestigious Fire Safety Award for the Eastern Station (Appendix 20) and

will be rolled out as a National Campaign across Fire Brigades in the country, where

there is a high Hindu population.

2.0 AIMS OF THE PROJECT

My aims of the project are:

a) How much has the Campaign raised awareness of Diva as a fire threat, amongst

the Hindu Gujarati Community of Leicester?

b) Has the campaign changed attitudes and/or behaviour with regard to lighting

divas amongst this audience?

c) To analyse and comment on the approach used by LFRSES?

I propose to tackle the project by getting in touch with the LFRSES and to speak

directly to the personnel involved in devising, planning and implementing the

Campaign. After ascertaining the reasons and motivations of the LFRSES for the



Campaign, I propose to look at relevant literature to identify any theory or any gaps in

the literature, before proceeding to frame relevant questions, specific to the case,

building on the foundations of what already exists. I will then formulate an appropriate

research strategy and appropriate methods to answer the questions posed. I will then

analyse and collate and report on the data collected and conclude my findings with

any recommendations.

People who are likely to be interested in this evaluation and topic are:

a) Fire service personnel – local, national and its governing bodies i.e. Office

Department of the Deputy Prime Minister (OPDM), HM Inspectorate

b) Other practitioners or public service bodies (NHS, Police, Army, Navy etc) who are

looking at doing campaigns targeting ethnic minority groups in areas such as health

promotion, injury, crime prevention and even recruitment, where ethnic minorities are

often under represented in the majority of public services.

Whilst the campaigns conducted in their respective areas will be very different, due to

their unique situation, their history and their context. The approach in terms of the

process used by LFRSES with the Diva Campaign may provide guidance on how to

go about targeting a specific ethnic group with an awareness or education campaign

with such bodies.

As the social demographic landscape of the UK changes, there will be a need for

public serving bodies to be more reflective and more accountable to the audience

they serve. They have a statutory duty to deliver to their audience an efficient,

responsive service that is inclusive of their differing and varying, sometimes even

cultural needs, but under tight fiscal constraints, as their operations are funded

through tax payer’s money. The current Government has been looking to make

public service bodies more accountable and diverse and have made many significant

changes in regulation across all public bodies to ensure that this is the case (see

Government legislation and commentary in areas of diversity, governance, best value

plans etc)



A total of 4.6 million people in the UK belong to an ethnic minority group, equating to

7.9% of the population, the number has risen 53% in ten years preceding the

Census 2 . The ethnic population is growing at a rate of 2.5% p.a, with some major

cities now having an ethnic majority, such as London, 31% 3 , Leicester, 25.7% 4 . The

commercial and social significance of these demographic changes will mean that

public service bodies like the Fire Rescue Service (FRS) will have to be more

inclusive and accountable to reflect the needs of all their publics, from communicating

Fire threat/safety messages, to employing people from these diverse backgrounds. It

is with these changes in mind that I have embarked on this ambitious topic as I feel

more specific, ethnic oriented campaigns, will be more prevalent in the future.

3.0 BACKGROUND

Leicester has a large Indian Hindu community and as such the risk of Diva fires in

Leicester is much greater than that in other cities across England & Wales. 14.74% of

the population living in Leicester classify themselves as being from the Hindu faith,

which equates to 41,248 people. This compares to 1.06% across the entire England

& Wales country (based on 2001 census statistics) 4 . Thus the need for the Campaign

to originate from a city like Leicester is not surprising. This case has particular

relevance to cities where there is a large living populous of Hindu’s as the threat of

Diva fires is much greater, as is the cost to fight or prevent such fires. Other highly

densely populated cities with a large Hindu faith majority are Bradford, Birmingham

and London.

The average cost of a domestic fire is £25,000 of which approximately £15,000 is

accounted for cost of injuries and fatalities 5 . A total of 22 people died from 1791

2 Ethnic Insight, Robert Gray. Marketing. London:Mar 4, 2004, pg 25 3 Ethnic PR, Maja Pawinska, PR Week, 30/2/2005 4 2001, Census, Key Stats, Crown copyright, Leicester City Council ; http://www.leicester.gov.ukdepartments/print.asp?pgid=1009

5 ODPM (2003), “The Economic Cost of Fire:Estimates for 2003”, March 2005, London, HMSO 6 ODPM (2004) “Fires in the Home:findings from the 2002/3 British Crime Survey”, February 2004, ODPM Publications, London, HMSO 7 Hansen, E (2004), “Diversity today, action tomorrow?”, Profile, Issue 42



candle fires in 2003 5 . Whilst the statistics do not account for how many of the fires

were as a result of Divas (Diva fires are amalgamated in to broader Candle category

in the statistics), the threat is large in areas where there is a high Hindu community,

who use divas as part of their daily prayers and also more divas in the run up to the

Hindu religious festivals of Navratri and Diwali. Candle fires make up 5% of all

household fires 5 .

Currently, the FRS does not record divas as a specific type of candle fire or the

ethnicity of casualties. This makes evaluation of the size of market and the potential

threat, difficult to measure. However, one can make the assumption that if there are

41,248 Hindu people living in Leicester 4 (census, 2001) and if 80% of them regularly

light divas as part of their daily prayers, then there is a potential threat for 32,998

households to have an accidental diva fire. If this is combined with the statistics from

the British Crime Survey 2002/2003, where it was identified that 57% of

Asian 6 (referring to Indian subcontinent origin, not Chinese) households were less

likely to have a working smoke alarm, then it could be assumed that 16,499

householders could be at threat if there was an accidental diva fire. If we look at the

figure nationally, there are 559,000 Hindu households (Census 2001) and if we take

the same assumption regarding usage and the ownership of smoke alarms, then

there is a potential for 254,904 Hindu households to have a possible Diva fire in

England & Wales.

It is hoped that my dissertation will urge the Fire Service and its governing authorities

to look at how they record fires. Divas should be recorded as a specific type of candle

fire as currently there is no real way to value the market or the threat, other than

make assumptions like I have. There is a financial, economic if not a moral case to

identify the size of the diva threat, as the potential for fatalities; casualties and cost of

fires could be staggering both locally and nationally.

5 ODPM (2003), “The Economic Cost of Fire:Estimates for 2003”, March 2005, London, HMSO



I also feel it is important that the ethnicity of respondents involved in domestic

dwelling fires is recorded so that specific strategies or campaigns can be forthcoming

if there is indeed a rise in fires involving ethnic households. The 2001 Census

predicts that by 2010, 30% of the population in metropolitan cities will be from ethnic

communities 7 . Given this growth, the need to record ethnicity will be critical as each

ethnic segment may have its own peculiar customs, norms, traditions, behaviors and

attitudes towards fires. Such data will be required in the future, if the FRS is to be

more accountable and representative to its publics as part of the Governments drive

to improve governance, diversity and accountability within its public serving bodies.

4.0 LITERATURE REVIEW

4.1 Key Findings from the Literature Review

Having extensively looked into the literature surrounding Diva’s and Fires it is clearly

evident that there is a lack of specific research related to these two topics. There is

also a lack of research conducted in the much wider topic area of fires in the home,

where the DFSC can also sit. There has been a lack of published information about

specific programs targeting the much wider ethnic groups in the fire safety literature,

making a review of what has been written problematic. Any review that has been

done of programs cannot be directly compared, as the context, the situation and the

ethnic groups being targeted is different from the one under investigation. Another

difficulty posed when comparing such programs is that vital program or design details

are missing in the literature for a comparable evaluation to take place.

However, there are some fundamental reasons as to why research in to the much

wider area of fire safety in the home has been lacking in the context of the UK. This

can be accounted for by the regulation that has governed the Fire Service, which

stipulated in law, the focus of the fire service was to put out fires, protect buildings

and ‘to promote fire safety as and when requested’ (Fire Service Act 1947). The Fire

Service Act has just recently been repealed in 2004 with the Fire Service Act 2004

now stipulating that the fire service ‘has a statutory duty to promote the fire safety



message to identified groups in the community’. This change in emphasis will no

doubt generate more Campaigns and fundamental research, targeting the Fire Safety

message to the community, than has been done previously in the past and the likes

of my research will no doubt be built upon in the future.

To compile the literature review, I have conducted a comprehensive audit in the

following areas, which have relevance to the topic under investigation.

The regulatory environment in which the UK Fire Service operates – which

governs how the Fire Service goes about their work. There has been a radical

departure from fighting fires as stipulated by the Fire Service Act 1947 to fire

prevention through promoting the fire safety message to vulnerable or highrisk

groups, of which ethnic minorities have been identified as one such group, alongside

children and the elderly over 65 years of age.

Fire Safety Education (FSE) – The DFSC is an example of a FSE program,

targeting a specific community with a particular identified fire issue i.e. the

unattended Diva, with the objective of reducing fires and changing

behaviour/attitudes by raising awareness of the threat. It is important to see what has

been written in this area in terms of theory and practice.

Ethnic Marketing & Marketing – The DFSC can also be described as an ethnic

marketing campaign targeting a specific consumer audience. The literature in this

area is vast and it is important to highlight some of the issues that exist, even within

the private sector when targeting such a diverse group of consumers and some of the

common concerns or problems that occur in this area, making this an interesting area

worthy of research. Focus will take place on a qualitative study produced by COI

Communications, called the Common Research Guide (August 2003), which advises

the government or its bodies on how to communicate with varying types of ethnic

communities.



4.2 The regulatory environment in which the UK Fire Service operates

The UK FRS is a public body that is funded by the government through taxes, which

are set locally and nationally on members of the public. As it is public serving body it

has a duty to protect and serve its publics and how the Fire Service go about their

duties is set in statute, by law, which dictates what their role and responsibilities are.

Appendix 11 – details the major Acts and policy changes that have had an impact on

how the Fire Service work and I have highlighted in bold, the major changes that

explain the reason as to why there has been a lack of research or campaigns in the

area of Fire prevention.

The Fire Service Act 1947 is extremely dated and whilst its origins emerged in the

1930/1940s, the Fire Service has been working to this statute for a number of years

rigidly. The Act emphasized the duty of the Fire Service was to fight fires and protect

commercial buildings. Resources of each Brigade were deployed according to these

objectives with their being more resources housed nearer to cities than in the

suburbs where the bulk of householders lived, where the risk of fire incidence was

greater. Information concerning how to prevent fires or manage the fire risk was

given out on an ‘as and when requested’, rather than publicly promoted.

Some Fire Brigades followed the Act to the statute, whilst others did additional tasks,

such as local/regional fire safety community campaigns of varying quality, which were

really beyond the scope of the Act. The extent to what tasks the Fire Brigades took

depended on how each Brigade interpreted the Act and was reliant on the resources

they had at their disposal.

In 1995, the Audit Commission undertook a wideranging review of the Fire Service in

England and Wales and called for a review of the Standards of Fire Cover and to shift

the emphasis from ‘fighting fires’ to ‘preventing fires based on research’. They

suggested that Fire Safety Promotion should be regarded as a statutory duty and not



be optional. The review was aimed at making the Fire Service more responsive to the

needs of the public and to make them more efficient in what they did. This was in

direct response to the fact that there had been a rise in the number of fires and

accidents over the years, which coincided with the lack of investment from Central

Government, who had not set any National targets for the Fire Service in the

prevention of fires or managing the fire risk. Various Governments had played little

regard to the Fire Service over the years tending to focus public funds in areas

deemed to be of more interest to the public i.e. the Police, NHS, and Education.

Following on from this review the Home Office in 1997 in the Safe as Houses Report

detailed a strategy for Fire Safety promotion involving the community. They indicated

that they believed that ‘most domestic fires are preventable arising mostly as a result

of lack of care or inappropriate behaviour’. They suggested that all Community Fire

Safety Education programs should focus on three core messages: prevention,

detection, escape behaviour.

They also identified a lack of planning both locally and nationally for fire safety

education with a lot of Campaigns being duplicated across Brigades. They

recommended the need for a National Fire Safety Centre (NFSC) to oversee a

national program of fire activity on an annual calendar basis, which Brigades can run

locally with material provided by them. The NFSC would also devise a website that

contained a variety of information and materials that local Fire Brigades could use as

they go about their work in communicating the fire safety message across the

community they serve.

In 2001 the responsibility for the fire service was transferred from the Home Office in

June 2001 to the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions

(DLTR) and subsequently the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) in May

2002. The change in ownership reveals the complex, bureaucratic and changing

environment in which the Fire Service has had to work. The Fire service has perhaps

undergone more change in the last 15 years than it has experienced in the previous

30 years. The organizational structure of the LFRS (Appendix 10) reveals the

bureaucratic and reporting nature of just one of the 47 Brigades that exist in the



Country and how more people are employed in the administrative running of the

service rather than at the grass roots i.e. fire fighting level.

In 2001, Sir George Bain conducted an Independent Review of the Fire Service and

highlighted the need and urgency for change and suggested that the Government

needed to take a central role in setting a clear strategic direction for the Fire Service

and that the current Standards of Fire Cover was dated and that the focus needed to

change to prevention of fires and managing the risk of fires from purely fighting fires

or protecting commercial buildings. He recommended that resources needed to be

redeployed in to areas of Fire Prevention, Community Safety and Fire Safety

Enforcement.

In 2003, the Government set out a White Paper (Our Fire and Rescue Service)

looking to address the concerns highlighted by Sir George Bain. The Government

acknowledged that an outdated legislative framework, an outdated structure, weak

institutional support, and insufficient focus on risk prevention had hampered fire

service. The focus now had to change from fire suppression to fire prevention, from

protecting buildings to protecting people. They also renamed the Fire Service to The

Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) to reflect the entirety of the work they engaged in to

include emergency rescue service. The government laid out their strategic vision in

this document and detailed how they would do this.

On the back of the White Paper, the Government repealed the Fire Service Act of

1947 and updated the framework with the Fire Service Act 2004, putting a statutory

duty on the FRS to promote Fire Safety by engaging with the community. This

fundamental change means that the FRS are now governed to think and promote

Fire Safety and to also engage with the community to sell the Fire Safety message,

which they may have done or not in the past.

This change in emphasis and focus is important to consider as it accounts for why

there has been a lack of fundamental research in the area of fire safety and its

prevention in the home and the community. The DFSC emerged against this

background, and whilst fires had happened in the past from unattended divas, the



FRS had never conducted a campaign to prevent such fires, as there was no

statutory duty to do this.

The change in the FSA 2004 has made campaigns such as the DFSC more of a

reality and it is hoped my evaluation of the Campaign will act as a guide to other

Brigades looking at selling the Fire Safety message to other communities where

there is a significant fire threat, particular to that specific community.

The words of Paul Dickens (Arson Task Force Leicestershire Fire & Rescue

Service) quite aptly summarise why there has been a lack of research

See Appendix 12.

4.3 Fire Safety Education (FSE)

The DFSC is an example of a campaign that raises awareness of a fire threat

amongst a particular community i.e. the Hindu Gujarati Community of Leicester and

its primary aim is to raise the education levels of that threat.

Literature in the FSE arena is very much a growing and evolving field. The fire and

life educator’s body of knowledge is progressing from oral history and program

descriptions to the stage of adapting relevant knowledge from other disciplines

(Powell and Appy, 1997).

The focus in the last 25 years has changed from writing about fire fighting techniques

and fire engineering to now looking at how to minimize the risk of fire by changing

behaviour, attitude and psychology of individuals who deliberately or carelessly start

a fire. It was regarded that fire engineering had made the most of the major gains in

fire safety and that any further research in fire losses needed to come from changes

in human behaviour. This belief was reinforced by statistics that showed that the vast

majority of fatalities came from residential fires, where building codes were less

stringent (i.e. no compulsory need for installation of smoke alarms or sprinkler

systems unlike with commercial public buildings), and that the main causes of fire



were not mechanical or system faults but were down to human behaviour (Anna

Chalmers, 2000).

Anna Chalmers (2000) identified three main strategies highlighted to prevent fire

injuries/fatalities:

• Educate, hopefully persuade, people to change unsafe behaviours

• Enforce safe behaviours through law

• Provide automatic protection by product or environmental design (Powell and

Appy, 1997).

These can be subdivided into either aiming to prevent fire or to protect people once a

fire had started by changing behaviour or the environment where a fire can take

place (Home Office, 1980).

The DFSC is an example of a campaign that aims to prevent fire from starting in the

first place by persuading the audience to engage in safe behaviour when lighting

divas and to not leave diva’s unattended or near materials that can easily catch fire,

or on surfaces that are unstable. It also highlights the main areas where a fire can

start, showing pictorially the areas of concern with a view to educating and

encouraging safe behaviour from the target audience when it came to lighting Diva’s.

The categorization system commonly used in the fire safety literature is based on that

of vulnerable groups of which ethnic minorities are identified as one such group,

along with children under 5 years, older people, lower socioeconomic groups, and

rural population.

In a report titled ‘Improving the fire safety knowledge of vulnerable groups’, Anna

Chalmers (2000) surveys over 200 items from the UK, New Zealand and the USA to

explore what is the best way to target these vulnerable groups. A lot of her report

makes interesting reading, but what is clear is that she found little published

information on fire safety and ethnic minority groups in comparison to the other



vulnerable group categories. She came to the conclusion that the same strategies

that apply to the lower socioeconomic groups can be assumed to be appropriate to

target ethnic minority groups.

Her main findings in this area were:

• There is very little published on ethnic minority groups and fire safety (point

4.3.1).

• One encounters frequent advice to print educational materials on a range of

languages or to rely on using pictures than words to get a message across

(Gamache 1997) (4.3.2).

• Specific program details are often not discussed and cites a program directed

to American Indians, which concentrated on reducing the risk of inflammable

liquids where there was a 65% fire reduction (Stamps et al, 1980) (4.3.3).

• Community involvement in design and implementation of programs would

presumably have a positive effect on ethnic minority groups, which is the same

approach used to target lower socioeconomic groups (4.3.4).

• The relationship between race and fire risks is unclear. It appears that any link

between the two can be accounted for by other socioeconomic factors,

notably income (4.3.5).

• Gunther (1981, cited in Federal Emergency Management Agency, 1997b)

considered the relationship between race and risk of fire. He found once

income was accounted, there were no significant risks between race and fire

risk (4.3.6)

She also documents the need to have improved evaluation systems for public FSE

programs (not just for ethnic minority groups but all vulnerable groups). Proof of the

effectiveness of campaigns can range from good to weak, such as knowing if a new

program has been introduced, to strong such as finding a reduction in fire fatalities. In

area of evaluation she cites the work of Scheanman et al (1990), Scheanman and

Gunther (1997) and Hall (1997).



Shaenman et al (1990) devised a ‘Hierarchy of Evaluation’ which the Community

Task Force of Britain recommended using as a basis for evaluation of FSE

campaigns:

Table 1 Hierarchy of evaluation measures for community fire safety

Outreach Knowledge gain Behavioural change Environmental change

End impact

Getting the safety

information to the

target audience and

reaching enough of the

audience to make a

difference.

The audience must

understand the

material and

remember it. It must

add to their knowledge

or remind them what

they know.

The target audience

must act on the

information.

Actions to improve

safety of the home

need to be done

correctly and the

changes maintained.

The behavioural or

environmental

changes must have a

significant impact on

the types of problem

that actually occur and

not be overwhelmed

by factors beyond

control or not

addressable by

community fire safety

Aspect measured Examples of evaluation measures

End results Number of deaths, injuries, fire or financial loss

Behaviour or the environment Percentage of households with a smoke detector, etc

Awareness, knowledge Percentage of public who know how to extinguish chip pan fires,

know about 'Get Out, Stay Out' or 'Stop, Drop and Roll' messages,

have escape plans, etc

Extent of programme outreach For example:

% of population receiving education materials

% of older people visited by trained carers

% of school children who received fire safety education

Strongest proof

Likeability and usage of

programmes

Percentage of teachers who think the programme materials are good

and use them, etc

Weakest proof Institutional change Introduction of safety curriculum in schools, adding another agency to

aid delivering the message, etc



Hall (1997) writing for NFPA, suggested three questions for evaluation: was the

target audience reached by the strategy; did the strategy change the target audience

as intended; and did the fire problem decline? The most difficult part of evaluation is

to determine if the fire problem declined due to education. It requires comparing fire

death rates before and after the program.

Two factors can skew the results, fire loss rates will vary over time and the ‘program

effect’ may inspire participants to be more fire conscious and therefore more fire safe

and thus they may not have learnt anything.

Schaenman and Gunther (1997) list a range of factors that can affect program results

such as: uncontrollable factors (such as age, income level, education, change in

industry or movement of people in an area who are more likely to have or not have

fires etc), semiuncontrollable factors (condition of housing, hazards of new

technology etc) and starting conditions (severity of fire problem, previous exposure

of population to fire education, current level of smoke detector installation and

maintenance).

She also has a section highlighting some of the critical success factors in public fire

safety education programs on the basis of research, which are worth noting:

• NFPA funded a study in 1974 determined that fire prevention messages must

be explicit, positive, showing the desired behaviour in the context where action

should occur. (The DFSC follows this ) (4.3.7)

• A 1975 study commissioned by the US Office of Planning and Education

examined 15 fire education programs and isolated two key features. These

were targeting education at local fire problems and involving the community in

program development and implementation. The study highlighted for an

individual to change unsafe behaviour, the problem must be perceived as

local, immediate and personally relevant. In addition, delivery or reinforcement

of the prevention message by a community leader increased the probability of

acceptance (Strother, 1975 cited in Strother and Buchbinder, 1980). (The

DFSC follows this). (4.3.8)



• The public should not be overloaded with information, and they should not be

scarred into action: emphasizing fear as a motivator can lead to an inability to

cope the blocking of the threat, rather than positive action. (4.3.9)

• The need to have targeted programs is a recurring and consistent theme in the

FSE literature. Programs need to be targeted and well funded to have

maximum impact. Successful targeting is often helped by conducting market

research which isolates not only who is at risk, but also how they perceive the

risk, so that fire safety education can appeal to an existing concern in the

community to be targeted (Seaton, 1996) (4.3.10)

• Community involvement in public fire safety education has been found to be

highly effective in regard to programs for various target groups, such as the

elderly and those in lower economic groups. Community involvement allows a

program to be designed to respond to the needs of the community from their

perspective, reaching those other members of the community who need the

information. A degree of ownership entails from the involved community, which

is likely to lead to more effort being put in to running and responding to the

program as a participant. High level of community involvement can lead to a

program contacting more personal contacts. (4.3.11)

• Fear unless, continually maintained, does not have a positive or long term

effect on behaviour as reported by Strother and Buchbinder (1980) and

Powell and Appy (1997) (4.3.12)

• In recent times, fire safety education has become ‘less preachy’ focusing more

on ‘teaching behaviours’ through the use of diagrams (Powell and Appy ,1997)

(4.3.13).

• Lopes (1997) details specific selection techniques in teaching safety education

programs these are : limit messages, reinforce messages, use positive

images, avoid valuedladen messages, correct myths and misinformation,

begin with awarenessraising messages informing of the hazards before

moving on to the education message of what to do, time the message using

teachable moments that are relevant, when external events heighten

interest.(4.3.14)



•

It is worth noting her findings as I can take on board her comments and tailor my

research to fill some of the gaps already identified and to ensure that the DFSC is

able to build on what little research there is in the field regarding ethnic fire safety

campaigns. The DFSC is just one example of a targeted ethnic minority campaign.

However the findings may not be applicable to all ethnic minority groups, but the

approach used may confirm some hypothesis identified in the research thus far i.e.

that the same strategy for lower socioeconomic groups can be used for targeting

ethnic minority groups.

4.4 Ethnic Marketing & Marketing

The DFSC could be classed as an ethnic marketing campaign, as it is specifically

aimed at a specific ethnic group. The literature in the area is vast and most of the

discussions and debates are really beyond the scope of this study. For a detailed

discussion of problems, issues and definitions of ethnicity see Nwanko (1998), Burton

(2002), who give a great overview of this topic. Like the FSE literature it is very much

an evolving and growing field. What is important to realize is that many commercial

companies engage in specific and tailored marketing to identify, profitable ethnic

minority groups.

In light of the growth of ethnic minority populations around the world many

commercial companies have created dedicated marketing departments to engage in

ethnic marketing. As markets become more competitive, turbulent and fragmented

around the world, many companies are looking to market products and services to

identified ethnic minority groups to secure additional revenues and profit.

Over half of Fortune 500 companies in the USA have some form of ethnic marketing

programs (McDermott, 1994) offering tailored advertising, customized promotion,

new product lines to account for the growth in ethnic minority groups, whom make up

25% of the US population. This market is predicted to grow to 47.2 in 2050

(Patterson, 2001).



The UK has yet to follow the USA in this area, with only a few companies scratching

the surface, with the larger more identified, ethnic groups such as the Indian

population or the Black/African population being targeted. Such identified market

segments have their own unique, cultures, values, traditions and norms which make

them ideal candidates for certain product or service categories, for example Western

Union and BT ( to cite two examples) engage in frequent bespoke marketing to these

groups allowing for them to talk and send money back to family or relatives in their

country of origin. Admittedly not a lot of companies have dedicated resources or

strategies in this area as the ethnic minority population accounts for only 7.9% of the

population in the UK (2001 Census) in comparison to 33% in the USA (Stern, 1999;

Williams 1995), although it is growing annually by 2 to 3% in the UK.

What is important to realize is that whilst commercial companies haven’t engaged in

ethnic marketing on a large scale, there is a distinct need for the government to do

so. Particularly where there is an identified issue affecting minority groups in the

areas health, social welfare provision, crime, injury and risk prevention. The

Government has a duty of care to communicate information to all its publics.

It is not surprising that the Government has taken the lead in this area, more so than

private companies. The emphasis between the private sector and the public sector is

much different, with the former motivated by profit and the later motivated in delivery

of public services and/or goods to reflect the diverse needs of its publics, who pay for

the provision through local and national income tax. The growth in ethnic minority

populations across the country makes this need even greater.

Without going into the differing areas of Government policy and campaigns targeting

minority groups, it is evident that there is “no one, size fits all model” that can be used

to communicate information to the varying different ethnic minority groups. Given that

the Government have a finite amount of resources to communicate to all its publics, it

has to be seen to promote and deliver its services efficiently across all it public

groups. Few campaigns have been written about or discussed in depth and to be

able to make direct comparisons are quite difficult due to their varying backgrounds

and the different ethnic audiences they are trying to communicate to.



Project Dil, is an example of one NHS Health Campaign that targeted the South

Asian Community of Leicester in the area of improving awareness of Coronary heart

disease (CHD) amongst the Asian community (Bhavsar,2004). Health promotion like

fire safety promotion has a key role in improving behaviour and to get the message

across to this community, key leads in the community were identified (religious,

social,voluntary) and recruited as peer educators. They were trained and educated to

take the message out to others in the community and a total of 45 hours of training

was delivered to the community. The project has been successful due to working in

partnership with the community and is looking to become a mainstream NHS

program. What is worth noting is that there are lots of examples of campaigns in the

government arena targeting ethnic minority groups and the success of most of them

relies on some form of engagement with people from that community in either

program design, development , implementation .

The Governments advertising agency COI Communications, published a research

document called the ‘Common Good Research Guide (August 2003) – Fresh insights

in to hard to reach audiences’ which looks at attitudes of ethnic minority communities

towards communications. The research is relevant to all government departments

and public bodies. It was compiled on the basis a large qualitative study with a wide

range of socioeconomic groups and members of the Asian (Bangladeshi, Pakistani,

Indian), Chinese and Black (African and Caribbean) communities.

I have summarized the main findings from their research, which can be highlighted in

use in the DFSC:

1. Ethnic minority communities shared many interests and media habits as with

the general population and this is more true for the younger population (4.4.1)

2. Specialist media are needed to access key sub groups such as women, older

people who speak little or no English (4.4.2).

3. Specialist media allow communication to the whole family in Asian and

Chinese communities, which is rarely achieved through mainstream channels

(4.4.3)



4. Local and regional media are very important to access ethnic minority

communities as well as editorial interest (4.4.4).

5. Want to see appealing images that their families can relate to, and they do not

want to continually exploited for ethnic identity (4.4.5)

6. In targeted campaigns using specialist media, ethnic and religious identity can

be used enhance the relevance and closeness of the communities. This might

include using a credible spokesperson from the community, making reference

to key religious festivals or cultural symbols, or including an identifiable and

likeable portrait of family life (4.4.6).

7. Government communicators could develop relationships with local

organizations and individuals to enhance the effectiveness of distribution and

generate word of mouth publicity through existing community networks (4.4.7).

8. Community groups need to be seen as a target audience in their own right and

not just a channel of distribution (4.4.8).

9. Marketers should consider developing targeted campaigns around cultural and

religious celebrations, hobbies and past times specific to ethnic subgroups

(4.4.9)

10.Marketers should partner with local shops and services for distribution and

publicity (4.4.10)

11.Marketers should consider developing publicity materials and campaigns in

partnership with community organizations (4.4.11)

12.The government was considered to be an appropriate sponsor of compliance,

social good and welfare state information (4.4.12)

13.For the end user, government communicators should produce:

a. Summary versions of leaflets in straightforward language (4.4.13)

b. Bilingual leaflets rather than translations (4.4.14)

c. Leaflets with strong visual and pictorial element (4.4.15)

d. Audio and video material in English and Mother Tongue (4.4.16).

The above is only a summary of the main identified planning and communication

issues when targeting ethnic minority groups as born by their qualitative research.



4.5 Summary of Literature Review

To conclude the literature has revealed why there has been a lack of specific Fire

research and campaigns in the fire prevention arena due to the regulation governing

the fire service. The change in emphasis from fighting fires and protecting buildings

to fire prevention and protecting people will mean more research and campaigns will

be forthcoming in the future, like the DFSC.

The literature in the FSE arena highlights that the link between ethnicity and fire is

unclear and that it is assumed that the strategy for promoting to lower socio

economic groups would work with ethnic minority groups i.e. the use of community in

designing, developing and implementing the campaign. It is also mentioned that there

is often a problem with FSE with regard to evaluating if campaigns worked due to the

program effect, or a variety uncontrollable factors, which are hard to quantify or

measure. There is also a lack of evaluations of programs in terms of awareness or

attitudes from the recipients of the campaign, with most campaigns being solely

judged on the number of fires reduced or call outs, pre and post campaign.

Finally the literature in ethnic marketing revealed that the government has a moral,

financial and economic obligation and therefore a need, to promote to all its publics

information in areas of health, social welfare, crime, injury and risk prevention. The

COI Communications Common research guide highlighted the main points to

consider when communicating messages to ethnic minority communities. The

document was largely produced to help the government and its agencies on what

strategies to employ when targeting ethnic minority groups.



5.0 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The literature reveals some gaps and some assumptions with regard to fires and

ethnicity, in the wider topic areas that the DFSC sits. The DFSC is an example of an

ethnic fire safety education program and I aim to use the DFSC to build on what little

published information/theory there is. I hope to confirm the assumptions already

made that use of the community in program design, running and implementation will

be regarded to be just as effective for ethnic minority markets as it is for lower socio

income groups in targeting the fire safety message. I also aim to look at the attitudes

and opinions of the program recipients to the DFSC, the approach used by LFRSES

and the outcomes of the campaign, so as to be able to comment on its success.

The questions have been revised to reflect what has been gathered from the

literature:

1. How much has the DFSC raised awareness of the Diva as fire threat, amongst

the Hindu Gujarati Community of Leicester?

2. Have the changed attitudes and/or behaviour with regard to lighting divas

amongst this audience?

3. What were the outcomes from the DFSC is it consistent with the theory?

6.0 METHODOLOGY

6.1 Research Strategy

In order to bring to light the proposed research questions it is necessary to select an

appropriate and relevant strategy. Since the main aim of the research is deductive

(Saunders et al, 2000), descriptive (Yin, 1984), exploratory (Yin, 1984), cross

sectional (Saunders et al, 2000), there is a need to attain both qualitative and

quantative data, using a mixed methodology.



The Survey approach was the preferred strategy as it allowed for a panoramic,

holistic view, a breadth of coverage and to get information direct from the horse’s

mouth (Densecombe, 2003). In our case, the target audience who had been

identified to target with a fire safety prevention message i.e. the Hindu Gujarati

community of Leicester. Researchers who adopt the survey strategy are able to use

a whole range of methods, within this strategy (questionnaires, interviews,

documents and observation) to elicit empirical data at a particular moment in time

(Densecombe, 2003). The survey approach is fairly low cost and can generate a

large amount of standardized data, in a short space of time, offering a ‘snap shot’

cross sectional view (Saunders et al, 2000).

In our case I chose the use of documents, interviews and questionnaires to get an

overview of the case. Such data will allow me find out ‘who’ was involved, ‘what’

happened, ‘when’ and ‘where’ did the DFSC take place, ‘what ‘the outcomes were

from the perspectives of the audience and the LFRSES. If I wanted to know ‘how’

and ‘why’ the DFSC worked I would lean towards using a case study strategy as it

encourages the use of multiple methods of data collection in an attempt to go in to

more depth and explain the likely hood of causal factors (Yin, 1984).

Our purpose was to ‘document’, ‘describe’ and ‘explore’ the DFSC phenomenon,

rather than explain it. Another fundamental reason for not using the case study

method was that the DFSC was still taking place at the time of my investigation and

that the full outcomes of the Campaign have been evolving as my investigation has,

such that certain documents pertaining to outcomes have only come to fruition in the

last few months.

However by using multiple methods as part of the survey design I could elicit a

considerable amount of information, which would improve the quality of the research

and show a variety of different perspectives at a particular point in time. Where the

methods converge through a process called Triangulation (Densecombe, 2003), it

may be possible to compare, contrast the data and information that is found, without

having to rely on just one single research method, adding a certain amount of validity

to my findings.



It was not possible to use other strategies such as experiments, ethnography, and

action research as they do not offer the depth, the breadth or coverage and lend

themselves more to smallscale qualitative research.

6.2 Sampling

I decided to engage in nonprobability sampling, as it was not feasible to include a

large number of examples in the study. The total Hindu population in Leicester is

41,248, of which 7,000 had received a direct flyer on the DFSC and what was

needed was a way of targeting a cross section of the population in the most efficient

and time saving manner. By using purposive sampling techniques (Densecombe,

2003) I was able to hand pick a specific event i.e. Holi, March 17 th , 6pm to 10pm,

where it was known by me (because of my cultural roots), that the target population

of the DFSC would likely to be present i.e. it is a key Hindu Religious event. By using

this approach I was able to concentrate on instances, which would display a wide

variety of balanced responses that could be generalised to the rest of the population.

The sampling frame is an objective list of the population (Densecombe, 2003). .

Whilst a sampling frame could have been used to target the Hindu Gujarati

population of Leicester (could have used Census lists or Community list of members),

this method was not employed due to cost, time and the likely response you would

have had from the target audience.

The best approach was to use Holi, where all members of the family are likely to be

present, who were most likely to be the recipients of the DFSC. I decided to interview

a large but equally balanced quota of genders and ages with an aim of attaining 100

questionnaires from this event by using my mum and myself as the fluent bilingual

interviewers.



6.3 Research Methods

1 st Phase – An in depth interview (see Appendix 14) was arranged and conducted

with Steve Kisby, the Fire Fighter who came up with the idea to explore what was the

reasoning and motivations for the campaign and what kind of benefits had been

received. I chose the option to use a structured interview

2nd phase To interview a cross section of Gujarati Hindu residents at the religious

event of Holi with the use of a structured Questionnaire (see Appendix 15). The

questions were carefully constructed so as to elicit the right answers to help us

explore the DFSC phenomenon further.

A series of open and closed questions were asked with predetermined categories

and rating scales to elicit a wide number of views on pertinent aspects of the

Campaign. The questionnaire had to be devised simplistically, as it had to be

translated in to Gujarati so that respondents who couldn’t speak English could be

included. The questions were carefully constructed to find out if attitudes, opinions

and behaviour had changed and for those who had not seen the Campaign, a leaflet

was shown to them, so their views could be included.

3 rd phase – to collect a series of documents (Appendix 19 & 1920) – internal,

external and view points from personnel involved in the Campaign to be able to

comment on the outcomes and the approach used by LFRSES – this has been

ongoing from the start of the project, with more documentation concerning outcomes

becoming available in the last few months. These illustrate information from the

perspective of the LFRSES.

6.4 Data Collection Methods

Face to face interviews were used, as they were the most appropriate method to elicit

the information we needed from the target audience. Face to face interviews offers

the immediate means to validate the data and the researcher can sense if they are

getting false information by looking at body cues that is not possible with methods



such as postal questionnaire or a telephone survey (Denscombe, 2003). The faceto

face contact allowed us to select the appropriate audience for our questionnaire.

From the outset, I looked to interview a cross section of ages and genders to be able

to generalize our findings to the rest of the population. A population that is known to

me and my mum (who I enlisted for help – see next section), by our cultural and our

ancestral heritage.

6.5 Managing response rates

In order to minimize the likelihood of response from the target audience, it was

decided to interview the program recipients direct, via facetoface questionnaires

instead of sending questionnaires direct in the post to recipients. Postal

questionnaires have a predominantly low response and when it comes to information

that is of a cultural or sensitive issue, it is hard to gauge how many recipients would

respond positively or even respond. Also by engaging on a postal method, you would

have to know where the Hindu Gujarati community, of Leicester live; not all residents’

householders living in the Belgrave or Melton Rd are from the Hindu faith and whilst

census or electoral lists could be used, it was deemed to costly and timely for this

research project.

Face to face interviews were conducted on Friday 17 th March 2005 at the religious

event of Holi in Cossington Park, off Belgrave Road, Leicester. I knew that a large

number of Hindu Gujarati residents would be coming to the park to see the large

bonfire that is traditionally lit to celebrate the event, with all their family. I knew this,

from previously attending such events as a member of the Hindu faith. I also knew

that I would have a short window opportunity to attain information from the program

recipients at this event i.e. three hours, while they come to see the fire display. I also

knew that a multitude of people would be present, of all age ranges and genders

allowing a good cross section of the population to be picked randomly.



I enlisted the help of my mum, who is fluent in both Gujarati and English, so as to

generate as many responses as possible. I suggested that my mum would interview

all the female respondents, as it preferable for a man not to speak to Hindu woman

on her own, without her family or husband being present 8 . I myself interviewed the

male respondents and by being culturally alert to the gender interviewing issues, we

were able to limit the lack of response to less than 1%. In fact, most respondents

were very much interested in giving their opinions on the DFSC, as they saw it ‘as a

good thing for the Fire Service to do’, even those who had not specifically seen or

heard of the campaign. By conducting the survey that my mum and I did, we were

raising the issue of the diva threat to them.

Overall we were able to interview a total of 104 questionnaires from an equal number

of genders and a less proportional, but representative sample of age groups across

the male and female categories, over a 4hour period.

6.6 Ethical, Political, Legal Considerations

The research did go pretty much to plan, with a few modifications along the way. I

initially made contact with Amanda Kelly Pike in January 2005, who detailed who was

involved in the Campaign. I had difficulties in getting hold of the Steve Kisby due to

the Fire Fighters working on shifts and with Mina Patel, Diversity Community Advisor

who was away. But once I got in touch with Steve and Mina, the work snowballed.

Mina Patel advised me to write to David Webb, Chief Fire Officer of LFRS, outlining

my project and what information I needed and how I could help them evaluate the

DFSC (Appendix 13). He put me in touch with the relevant people, so I could access,

view and cite relevant internal documents. In fact after the necessary permissions

had been granted it was extremely easy to access the data I needed.

Mina Patel was extremely helpful as was Steve Kisby in identifying who the key

players were and I was able to speak to a large number of people on the DFSC. I

was able to get in touch with the designer of the flyer, Minal Sikotra, a DMU

8 Singh, P (2004), “Cultural awarenessunderstanding our multicultural society” – Kent Fire & Rescue Service



Placement Student and her views on the Campaign have been cited (Appendix 18),

Rashmikant Joshi, one of the Community leaders was also helpful in explaining their

role and his thoughts are also cited (see Appendix 18)

With regard to conducting the field work, I sought confirmation of my proposed

questionnaire with Mina Patel who gave suggestions on what questions I should

include and what to take out. After liaising with Mina, I took out a question relating to

whether people were more aware of the DFSC as a result of the 5 people who died in

the Sharma Fire (Appendix 3) or as a result of the Campaign itself. It was made

known to me that the Community was still upset by the death of the Sharma family

and that it was too sensitive an issue to include in the research at that time.

This question was the only one that was removed. By seeking approval of the

questionnaire from the Fire Service, I was able to compile a survey that was ethically

sound and also elicit the key information that the Fire Service were after for

evaluating the attitudes and opinions of the recipients of the Campaign. I was also

able to establish myself as a credible researcher in the field undertaking an analysis

on behalf of LFRS.

Finally coming from the same background as the target audience allowed me to

consider the appropriate and relevant methods to employ accounting for all the

cultural and political issues that are likely to arise.

6.7 Problems encountered

The first problem encountered was in ascertaining information regarding the market,

as my area of study is highly focused and not having statistics on how many Hindu’s

light diva’s made it hard to evaluate the potential fire threat. My estimation may be

too high or just too low. The recording of divas has been poor both nationally and

locally, with diva fires being subsumed in the wider candle fire category. They are not

the same thing. The good news is Divas have started to be recorded as a particular

type of fire a few months prior to the Campaign at LFRS.



I also experienced problems when conducting the literature review, as little had been

written specifically on ethnicity and fire safety behaviour and that the only link

associated with the two was based on income and the fact that there was evidence to

suggest that a large proportion of nonwhite people had no smoke alarm at home.

However I was unable to confirm the link between income and levels of awareness or

change in behaviour in my survey, as it is culturally accepted to not questions

regarding income to such an audience. This is something I am aware of, as I come

from such a community. Even if such a question had been asked, it is likely that

many would have refused to give this information or indeed tell the truth, skewing the

acceptability of these results.

One other problem I encountered was interpreting the questionnaire in to Gujarati in

verbatim. Despite doing a pretrial questionnaire with my mum who doublechecked

my pronunciation and dialogue. It was virtually impossible to practice every response

for all the different types of respondents and their differing, personal and socio

demographic circumstances. Hence there is likely to be some bias in the collecting

and recording of data. It is also likely that some results may be affected by the

interviewer affect, where responses vary according to who is conducting the

interview, based on how they perceive the interviewer.

To minimize the interpretation effect, I enlisted the help of my mum (who is fluent in

both Gujarati and English), who interviewed the bulk of her respondents in Gujarati. I

made sure that my mum interviewed all the female respondents and I surveyed all

the males, this was done on purpose to manage the response rate and encourage

female respondents to partake in the survey. It is unlikely that many females would

have taken part in a survey if the interviewer was a male and unknown to them and

this is truer for the older female respondents. To overcome the possible interviewer

affect, I made sure that I used the same consistent introduction and approach, when

interviewing the respondent; the same was true of my mum. Fortunately, as both my

mum and me as we came from the same community as the program recipients we

were able to build rapport instantly. We also had the credibility of working in



association with two credible partners involved in the DFSC i.e.Shree Sanatan

Mandir and the LFRS.

6.8 What would I do differently?

If I were to do the project again, I would look to interview people on a different day

and at a different time as this would have allowed access to more people who may or

may not have had exposure to the DFSC and hence the research and survey may

have been different. However, due to the constraints of time and available resources

a decision was taken from the outset to survey people at the Holi event, where it was

known that 99% of the audience would have been of Gujarati origin. This date and

festival was chosen as it allowed me to attain the best amount of responses in a very

short space of time, allowing for a subsequent analysis to take place at a specific

point in time, allowing for an appropriate end point for evaluation of the Campaign.

I would recommend that my survey is conducted again in a few months time, to see if

the message has been prolonged and sustained and that people haven’t forgotten

about the issue or fire threat. This would also test the problems associated with the

program effect, with people being more fire conscious as result of recently seeing or

hearing about a Campaign. As it is quite probable that the reason why the awareness

levels were high for the Campaign was the fact that the target audience had received

communication just prior to the Holi event, where a hand held distribution took place

via the Fire Service.



7.0 FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

7.1 Primary Data Analysis

Having attained a vast amount of both primary and secondary data over a short

space of time, it was important that I objectively analysed the data. The primary data

elicited from the questionnaires was direct from the recipients of the program and

their views are paramount to judging the success of the DFSC from their own,

individual perspective. One openended question was included on the questionnaire

to record individual’s comments on any aspect of the campaign (see Appendix 17).

19 comments came from a possible of 104 respondents (18% had a comment) and

these can be broken down and coded in a manner that gives some meaning and

purpose in line with the research objectives, summarized in to 5 categories:

Area Number of Responses Per Cent 1. Changed attitude/behaviour 11 58

use less ghee 3 16

install smoke alarm 3 16

keep clothing away 2 11

will not leave Diva Unattended 3 16

2. Liked Design of Flyer/Poster 3 16

Use of Mandir 2 11

Eye catching, use of colour 1 5

3. Did not like design of flyer 4 21

Too much information 2 11

Use of Mandir (not appropriate to FSE) 1 5

Should be brighter 1 5

4. Should have Fire Safety demonstrations 4 21

at school / or on TV 1 5

at events/religious get togethers 2 11

5. Fire Service working in partnership 1 5



What is clearly evident from their comments is that 58% cited themselves as having

changed their behaviour as a result of the DFSC, which is a positive outcome, with

16% saying they will not leave a Diva unattended and another 16% having been

spurned in to buying a smoke alarm as a direct consequence.

As for the approach used by the LFRSES, the audience has recognized the

partnership approach at 5%. The flyer design is favourable at 16% and the only

reasons for not liking the Flyer was because of too much information 11%, or the

use of the Temple 5%, which contradicts the data from those who cited liking the

poster for using the Temple 11%.

Admittedly, these comments are only a few and cannot be generalized across the

population. Table 2 shows the Gender distribution of the sample by age category

interviewed. Due to the constraints of time, it was not possible to get an equal quota

of genders per category, as we only had 4 hours to elicit as many varied answers to

the questionnaire as we could.

Table 2 – Gender distribution of Hindu respondents interviewed at Holi.

As the survey data is predominantly about opinions, values and attitudes it was not

necessary to conduct a detailed descriptive analysis of the data, as we were not

looking for cause or affect of the variables or an association between variables or for

any amount of depth in the data to explain what is going on.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

014 1524 2534 3544 4554 5564 65 yrs

Age Categories

Percen

tage

Male Female



However if you look at the findings from the overall survey, where I have summarized

the results by gender (Appendix 16A), the findings are similar in the area of changed

behaviour 57% of Males and 58% Females would change their behaviour (see

Figure 1 – Q4).

Even those Males and Females who had not come across the DFSC, when shown

the flyer cited that 49% of Males and 51% Females would change their behaviour

(see Figure 2 – Q13).

There is a considerable difference in the ranked opinions across the genders on what

they liked or disliked about the poster (see Figure 3 & 4, Q12), with Males preferring

ease of language at 255 level, use of Mandir at 85 level, whereas Females preferred

use of Mandir at 300 level, followed closely by use of colours at 295. (High number =

high liking, low number = low liking)

Figure 1 – Change in gender behaviour Figure 2 – Has leaflet changed gender behaviour

Q13. Has the leaflet changed behaviour for those who have not seen DFSC?

51%

49%

Male Female

Q4. Change in Behavior as a result of Campaign?

57%

58%

Male Female



Figure 3 Female ranked opinions on leaflet

Q12. Female opinions on leaflet by ranked order scale

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

Poor Excellent

Scale (Poor to Excellent)

a) language

b) colours

c) design mandir use

d) ease of use

Figure 4 Male ranked opinions on leaflet

Q12. Male opinion on leaflet by ranked order scale

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Poor Excellent

Scale (Poor to Excellent)

a) language

b) colours

c) design mandir use

d) ease of use

This is the only area where there is a considerable variance across the gender

categories and these findings may be just appropriate to this sample under

investigation, but it does highlight a difference in opinion across the genders. Or it

could be that the Male respondents were less inclined to rank their opinions on the

categories offered on Q12. However the fact that both genders cited liking the use of

the Temple in the background confirms the need to have visual appealing pictures

when communicating to the ethnic market as per COI comments (4.4.16).

The Genders exhibit similar views in areas such as awareness of the Campaign,

Figure 5, Q1, 65% Male and 69% Female aware (High awareness). Twice the

number of female respondents who did not have smoke alarms prior to the DFSC

went out and bought one at 15% vs. 8% for the Male respondents although more

Figure 6, Q8.



Figure 5 – Awareness of DFSC Figure 6 – Smoke alarm bought due to DFSC

Figure 7 – What genders cited the DFSC was

There are subtle differences in how they perceived what the campaign is about,

Figure 7, Q3 Male 53% and Female 50% cited Diva.

I have compared and contrasted Q2 and Q14 (Figure 8 & 9) to see if there was a

difference in how the genders heard about the campaign in terms of mode of

communication and how they would prefer to be communicated. Both genders cited

hearing about the campaign from Posters and the Fire Talk at 60% to 70% levels, but

each Gender category had its own preferred method of communication but again the

difference is not truly significant. The Temple (Mandir) was preferred at 35% for

Males and 25% Females, Females preferred Leaflet at 35% Vs Males at 25%. Fire

Talks were cited at 18% for both Genders.

Q8. Bought smoke alarm due to DFSC

0

5

10

15

20

Male Female

Gender

Per C

ent

Yes

Q1.Awareness of DFSC

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

70

Male Female

Yes

Gender

Per C

ent

Q3. What is the Campaign about

50 53

12 8

12 8

31

50

8 0

11

0

10 20

30 40

50 60

Fire Safety

Diva Diwali House Fire

Oil Don't know

Main communication message

% Male Female



This would confirm that the approach used by LFRSES was most appropriate to

communicate to the audience regardless of gender and perhaps accounts for why the

campaign maintains high awareness levels across the gender categories.

Figure 8 – Preferred mode of communication vs. how aware of DFSC – Females

Q2 & Q14 Preferred mode of communication vs how aware of campaign Females

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

leaflet/f lyer TV

Familu/Relatives

Mandir

Poster

Friends

Children

Other

Fire/talk

Press

Comm

unity Newsletter

Mode of communication

Percen

tage

FEMALE Aware FEMALE Preferred

Figure 9 – Preferred mode of communication vs. how aware of DFSC Males

Q2 & Q14 Preferred mode of communication vs how aware of campaign Male

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

leaflet/flyer

TV

Familu/Relatives

Mandir

Poster

Friends

Children

Other

Fire/talk

Press

Community Newsletter

Mode of communication

Percentage

MALE Aware MALE Preferred



As the sample was not equally weighted across the age groups, unlike the gender

categories (See Fig 10), it was felt it would be unfair to comment on the variation at

length as it may be particular to the sample that was taken rather than entirely

representative of the whole population. However it can be seen from Figure 11, that

awareness levels of the DFSC are greater for the older age groups:

Figure 10 – Distribution by Age Groups

Distribution by Age Categories

16 16

4

26

16 19

7

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

014 1524 2534 3544 4554 5564 65 yrs Age Group

Numbe

r of r

espo

nden

ts

Figure 11 – Awareness by Age Group

Q3 Awareness by Age Group

55 50 50

75 75

90

80

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

014 1524 2534 3544 4554 5564 65 yrs Age

Per Ce

nt

The reason for this variation is that it is most likely that the older generations frequent

the Temple more than the younger age groups. The Temple was major a distribution

channel and player in getting the message out to the audience, hence the high

awareness levels in these groups.

Figure 12, shows that there is a degree of variation across age groups on what the

DFSC was about and perhaps different age groups interpreted or heard about the

Campaign differently.

Figure 13 highlights that there is a wide degree of variation in terms of changed

behaviour from different age groups, with the best change coming from 55 – 64 yrs at

90%, 15 – 24 yrs at 80%. The worst category was the 65 years age group, of which

only 20% highlighted that the DFSC had changed their behaviour. Suggesting that

the older age groups may be resistant to change or perhaps stuck in their ways, but a

sample of 7 people is not truly representative and these preliminary findings can be



used as a base for future investigations to ascertain if this is more the shared view of

this age group in the community.

Figure 12 – What is the Campaign about by age group

Q3. What is Campaign about by age group

0 10 20 30 40 50

60 70 80 90 100

014 1524 2534 3544 4554 5564 65 yrs

Age

Per C

ent

Fire Safety

Diva

Diw ali

House

Oil

Other

Figure 13 – Behaviour change by age group

Q4 Behaviour change by age group

50

80

60 54

75

90

20

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

014 1524 2534 3544 4554 5564 65 yrs Age Group

Per cen

t

Finally, Figure 14 reveals how the different age groups ranked the DFSC leaflet

according to different categories. There is a considerable difference across the

groups with Ease of Use and Language featuring as the two most important

characteristics of the flyer and this confirms that for a campaign to be effective it

needs to be in a straight forward, easy to understand language (4.4.13)

Figure 14 – Ranked opinions on DFSC Leaflet by age group

Q12 Ranked opinions on leaflet by age group

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

014 1524 2534 3544 4554 5564 65 yrs Age Group

Coded Value

Language Colours Mandir Ease



7.2 Qualitative Statements as attained from those involved in the Campaign

Minal Sikotra, Shree Sanatan Mandir (Appendix 4 & 17) recommended using Flyers

and Posters over placing an advert in Leicester Mercury, which was what the LFRS

ES were primarily thinking of doing to communicate the Diva safety message. The

approach advocated by them (the Community) was justified as the appropriate

approach given that both Male and Females cited press as the least preferred form of

communication for a Fire Safety message – see Figure 8 and Figure 9, also in

Appendix 16A, Q14.

This confirms that having the Community involved in designing aspects of a program

or its implementation is the best effective way to get a message across to ethnic

groups, this is consistent with the FSE literature. It is perhaps another reason as to

why the Campaign worked so well amongst the Hindu audience as it was

communicated in the appropriate communication mode that was most relevant and

preferred to their needs, from their perspective (Chalmers, 2000) (4.3.11).

The advertising copy was positive, explicit (4.3.7), immediate and personally relevant

(4.3.8). The use of captions around the Temple, showed the desired behaviour in

context (4.3.7). Using religious icons, cultural symbols such as the Mandir, and diva

images on the flyer enhanced the relevance and closeness of the Campaign to the

community, confirming 4.5.6 point. The use of the personal greeting (‘Jai Shree

Krishna’ – a common greeting used in religious Hindu community faith based

literature) along with logo’s of the Shree Sanatan Mandir and LFRS logo’s added

credibility, as it was the Fire Service working with the community, in partnership

(4.4.11), rather than just ‘preach’ a fire prevention message (4.3.13), it taught safe

behaviour through use of relevant diagrams (4.3.13).

Rashmikant Joshi (Appendix 18) – highlights the important nature of the Campaign

and his comments illustrates another reason for the DFSC success i.e. the

Community leaders felt they had a duty to protect their members following the tragic



5 deaths from the unattended Diva. They assisted by sustaining the message

beyond the traditional flyer or poster campaign, by providing free editorial PR (4.4.7),

sustaining the message further, in its annual community brochure (Appendix 8). This

confirms Strother and Buchbinder (1980) finding that delivery of the FSE message by

a Community leader increases the probability of acceptance amongst its audience

(4.3.8). It also illustrates that the Community leaders had a sense of ownership of the

DFSC and were assisting in getting the message out to their members, confirming

the FSE & also the ethnic marketing literature.

Mina Patel highlights the success down to having cultural insight and having the

community involved in the process of the design of the program. She also confirms

that by having a bilingual leaflet translated directly in to Gujarati by one of the

Mandirs members, helped in getting the message out to those who did not

understand or speak English, in a manner that is understandable and personable to

them (4.4.14) Her comments reinforce those made by Rashmikant Joshi.

7.3 In depth interview Steve Kisby, Fire Fighter, Originator of DFSC

Appendix 14 shows Steve’s overall qualitative answers to a set of questions I asked

him about the Campaign. This was done prior to my initial survey as it was intended

to give me vital descriptive and exploratory details of how and why they came up with

the DFSC.

It is evident from the interview that the program design and concept evolved over

time (Q1) in a working partnership between the LFRS and Shree Sanatan Mandir.

Steve had a few ideas on how best to get the message out: involving setting a

Temple on fire, at the end of the Campaign at a major religious event to get a visual

impact of what an unattended Diva can do and suggested putting the Diva Flyers on

cars (Q6). By involving the Community and having someone who understood the

Community working on the project i.e. Mina Patel, the communication approach and

strategy was revised and refined from the perspective of the Community, in terms of

what was culturally right and ethical to do. This partnership approach is consistent

with both the FSE (4.3.11) and ethnic marketing literature (4.4.11) and a key reason



for the campaigns success. The Community was actively involved in the program,

design and implementation (4.3.11).

Other points he makes, which confirm and reinforce the literature:

Mina invited local community leaders from the Hindu community of Leicester and the press to

the local campaign. Mina organized the venue, the food, and invites to the people. About 50

people including the Mayor came. We presented a slide show about the Diva Safety

Campaign including our mission statement, ‘to make every Gujarati Hindu in Leicester

aware of the Diva Fire threat and the need to have working smoke alarms’…. (Q3) –

confirms the involving and consulting nature of the project and to partner with the

community and develop good working relationships (4.4.7 & 4.3.4)

…Fire Talk presentations at Community religious events at Navratri… (Q3) – This point

confirms the ethnic marketing literature, to consider marketing campaigns at religious

events (4.4.9)

…At Diwali we gave out more flyers and we got Asian retail venues on Melton and Belgrave

Rd to display posters and flyers… (Q3) – This point confirms the need to partner with

local shops for distribution (4.4.10)

It was Fire Rescue Service talking with leaders consent – a joint initiative, if FRS did a

leaflet, it would look different, this poster is from the community perspective and looks

‘Asian’ as Mina would say (Q4) – This point confirms the use of ethnic, religious identity

in special targeted campaigns (4.4.6)

All decided before the Sharma family fire. We were thinking of cancelling due to sensitivity.

But it was the ideal time, as awareness levels were high. Timing is everything it helped us. 5

people died. It’s tragic to do a campaign on the back of this, but it has got the message out.

This comment confirms the need to time a FSE message using teachable moments

as in point 4.3.14.



As Mina comes from the community and speaks the native language, it is easier for her to

access the community leaders and MATV (local Asian TV News channel) (Q5) – This raises

the question, had someone not been from the community in the campaign, would the

Campaign been as successful. Perhaps this could be explored in future work, did the

success derive from having someone from the Community being involved?

Lack of continuity due to working shifts, relied on email and a lot of goodwill of people (Q6)

This is not part of our job, we have to do training, it is a sideline, in addition for us to do

things, we have to cut corners, we will do if we can. How can we hit as many people as

possible with limited resources and lack of funds! (Q6) the FSE advocates for a

campaign to work it needs to be well funded for maximum impact (4.3.10), which

raises the question would the DFSC been more successful if more funds and

resources been placed in to this project,

Only way to improve, having the community fire people take it on. If we had people

specifically doing Diva Campaign we could have done more, as we did this alongside our

current tasks, we had to prioritise and make time (Q7) – This illustrates that whilst most

Fire Brigades have now dedicated Community Fire Safety teams who aim to promote

fire safety to the community, they could have assisted in the running of the program

instead of relying on the goodwill of a few people, who proactively managed and ran

the Campaign along with other tasks – Steve Kisby, Mina Patel and Community

leaders of the Hindu community.

Outcomes from the DFSC

Since the campaign – EFRS – has gone to 1 fire in 2 or 3 months, same time we had 2 or 3

fires in the period of Diwali. We actually had 2 Fires in 1 day, this time last year during

Diwali (Q5) – The reduction in fires is an example of a positive end impact and

according to Schaenman et al (1990) hierarchy of evaluation model (FSE literature),

this is the strongest proof of the Campaign working. If this is combined with the data

from the survey of 104 recipients, where behaviour had been cited as changing in

57% Male response and 58% Female response, it is hard to disprove the success of

the DFSC, from the perspective of either the Fire Service or the individual members

point of view.



7.4 Secondary Data Sources

7.5 Fire incident reporting data (Internal document)

See Appendix 19. The data on number of fires over the period of 12 months, prior to

and after the Campaign, highlight a reduction in number of Diva fires, 3 fires occurred

out of 35 which were specifically attributed to Diva fires (8.5% of all fires), with their

being only 2 fires after the Sharma deaths. Of which 1 fire was in the catchment area

of where the DFSC distribution took place i.e. Eastern Station. The same period last

year cannot be compared due to the fact that Divas had been recorded as Candle

fires rather than as Diva fires, as the two are quite different. This would suggest the

campaign has worked according to the Scheanman et al (1990) Hierarchy evaluation

model.

If this is data is consistent with the comments made by Steve Kisby and that a

reduction has been seen in Diva fires. However a number of factors could have could

been attributed to the reduction as Shaenman and Gunther (1997) point out in the

FSE literature, the only way to judge this is to do the survey in 6 months time, to see

if attitudes or behaviour changed in the long term and combine it with the Fire

incident reporting data.

7.6 FIRE Safety Award – Memorandum from LFRS CFA

See Appendix 20. This highlights how good the Campaign was and in recognition

LFRSES wins the prestigious Fire Safety Award, and the campaign has been

confirmed for National Roll out, by its governing body, ODPM to other Brigades, This

confirms the success of the Campaign. Section 2.7, 2,8 & 2.9 highlights the role I

played in evaluating the effectiveness of the Campaign, through my MBA project.

7.7 Outreach Workers

On the back of the Campaign, LFRS appointed 6 bilingual outreach workers (App

14, Q14) who spoke a variety of languages to spread the Fire Safety and prevention



message across its diverse publics. It is a direct benefit from the campaign and will

no doubt inspire further campaigns of this nature, in months and years to come.

8.0 CONCLUSION

8.1 Fire Service perspective

• A reduction in Fires was seen and no deaths since the Sharma incident

attributed to Diva’s

• Word of mouth was attained from the Hindu Gujarati residents as and when

Fire Fighters went about doing their home risk assessments (identified

dwellings would be assessed with a view to improving or minimizing the fire

risk i.e. install smoke alarms if necessary)

• Their findings were confirmed in my survey with Hindu Gujarati residents and

from the qualitative statements attained from them and also those who were

involved in the campaign

• Campaign went National, picked up by ODPM, and will now be rolled out

across the country

• Won Fire Service Safety Award on back of the Campaign and the evaluation, I

conducted (my MBA project has been cited in an official memorandum,

Appendix 20).

• Raised profile of LFRS in community, amongst Hindu faith and other

communities, allowing for more focused campaigns in the future

• Huge amount of goodwill and sustained PR from the community who got

actively engaged in this – as witnessed in their community newsletters

• All attained on a shoestring budget.

• Allowed LFRSES to engage with the community



• Having a Diversity Community Advisor who was aware of the culture, the

norms, and traditions helped in getting the Campaign off the ground. The

approach used by Mina, involving the community leaders, not only raised the

profile of LFRSES, but showed that the LFRSES valued their opinion and

this was very much a working partnership, where the community were actively

consulted and involved in the program design and implementation to reduce

the fire risk of Diva’s to its members.

8.2 Individual Community Perspective

• Learnt about the DFSC and the threat posed by Diva’s – evidence of change

in behaviour is cited, from using less ghee, to not leaving divas unattended, to

tying hair back and to even being inspired to have a smoke alarm put in.

• Attitudes and behaviour has changed, as witnessed by the various qualitative

statements made and from the results of certain questions that elicit an

answer showing behaviourial change from their viewpoint. Although what

people say and what people do are often quite different and to ascertain if real

behaviour change has happened, I would advocate in depth discussions or

focus groups with a cross section of the community to get them to

demonstrate if they have learnt the information.

• High awareness levels across genders

• Shows LFRSES respect and acknowledge our culture and want to make sure

we have less risk from Diva fires

• Message has been reinforced from Community leaders in Community

newsletters and a lot of good local and national press ensued, keeping

awareness levels constantly high

• People were extremely positive about the Campaign. On the whole, they loved

the design, the layout, the personal greeting and use of colours.

• The approach used by LFRSES was the right approach and was relevant to

the audience in question as the leaflet was constructed from the viewpoint of

the community; it had credibility and gave a certain amount of kudos.

• There was a high level of awareness surrounding the Sharma fire deaths

across genders and age categories and due to sensitivities a direct question

was not asked as to whether the Campaign was known because of this or due



to the DFSC itself. I would recommend further research is conducted to

confirm this point once, sensitivities concerning their deaths has expired,

which can be attained by liaising with the community leaders.

8.3 Overall conclusion

The approach and manner the LFRS went about the Campaign has resulted in it

succeeding in reducing the number of diva related fires and the mixed survey

methodology has confirmed through both primary and secondary data, that this has

been the case.

The data analysis section highlights how consistent the data findings are to research

in the areas of FSE and ethnic marketing. Whilst the LFRSES did not employ any

academic techniques (or used or were aware of the COI Communications research

guide), it was evident that a systematic process ensued. From identifying the diva

problem, who was at risk, to recognizing how best go about getting this message

across, to involving the right people from the community, who can advise and refine

their approach in getting their message across. Had the Fire Service gone ahead with

their initial ideas without consultation, offence may have resulted from a lack of

cultural understanding of what is acceptable or not to the Community i.e. setting fire

to a Temple or putting flyers on cars, which had pictures of god on the copy.

The use of the community in design and program implementation was consistent with

what the FSE and ethnic marketing literature advocates and is also an approach

currently being used in other government areas as in the case of Project Dil

(Bhavsar,2004). It also confirms Anne Chalmers (2000) assumption that the same

strategy to target lower socioincome groups of using the Community in program

design should work for ethnic minority groups. The DFSC proves that it does and it

has.



Other practitioners in government based fields may want to take note of these

findings and enlist a similar strategy when looking to educate ethnic minority

communities in their respective fields i.e. NHS, Police, Education etc. It is important

that they are able to identify who are the key opinion people, or opinion formers such

as Community leaders and look to consult with them on what is the best way to get

this message across. Most community leaders are extremely open and willing to help

government agencies, as they feel they have a need to protect and inform their

members of wider government policy, particularly those who cannot speak or

converse in English. Having someone who works in the government body from the

same community background can open up lines of communication and is something

that should be encouraged. What is less clear is how to target ethnic minority groups

who are widely dispersed and perhaps do not have the same community

engagement as the Asian community does in the UK, perhaps more research needs

to be done in to these areas.

Finally the COI Communications Common Research guide provides a useful insight

in to the various different ethnic groups and provides useful advice, born by research

that can avoid many pitfalls in formulating Campaigns targeting minority groups.

Whist the LFRSES were not aware of this guide (which seems to imply, who in

government is aware of this or uses this, is it more for directing National central

Government Campaigns?) there approach of involving the Community, overcame

any potential barriers or problems in getting there message across to the Hindu

Gujarati community of Leicester and was justified.

The DFSC has grown from a small local initiative to a national campaign, in the same

manner as Project Dil has in the health promotion arena. Both cases illustrate that

there is a clear need to have targeted campaigns to ethnic groups who have been

identified, as being vulnerable to an identifiable and preventable risk be it in Fire

Safety or Health promotion. It is only a matter of time before the number of

campaigns or write ups in the ethnic marketing of the fire safety arena become more

common place, in line with the anticipated growth in the ethnic market in the UK.

9.0 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR HOST ORGANISATION



Need to record divas as a separate category rather than a candle fire – this should

become a statutory requirement particularly where there is a high Hindu populous, as

the effect of fire and risk will be more.

Need to record the ethnicity of all respondents in fires – fatal and nonfatal, which is

currently lacking, although from 2006, this will be recorded. To push for such

changes, as some brigades are doing this and others are not. Only when such

recordings are evident will the problem areas become known, worthy of targeting

within the different ethnic minority groups.

To fully evaluate the campaign in terms of attitudes, awareness and behaviour by

engaging in Market research, very much in the same manner as I have done, but to

interview people on a variety of days and times around the Belgrave Rd/Melton Rd,

perhaps using the newly appointed bilingual out reach workers. As my primary

survey was conducted on a day known to me, that would have elicited the best

response from the audience i.e. people who attended the Holi event, were most likely

to have attended the other religious events where the DFSC was actively promoted.

To conduct a post 6 months questionnaire or an in depth qualitative interview or

focus group with a cross section of respondents – to see if the effects of the

Campaign have been sustained in terms of attitudes, awareness and changed

behaviour. It would be helpful to commission or employ a market researcher who is

bilingual and who is from the same culture to be able to probe if change has occur

by getting respondents to demonstrate their knowledge.

Questionnaires should be conducted with those in the community and those who do

not necessary go to communitybased events, whose views have not been

represented in this survey. There may be considerable variation in attitudes and

behaviours between these two groups.

Finally, as the DFSC is being rolled out nationally, it could be possible for the host

organization to compare what the results of the DFSC would be in another city where

there is a similar level of Diva fires and to see if they could mirror the same approach

taken by LFRSES and compare the results.



10. FURTHER RESEARCH IDEAS

More research in the area of ethnicity and fire is needed, one that reflects the

diversity of all the different ethnic groups. The Asian community has a very closeknit,

collectivist, ‘family orientated’ culture and getting a message across to this audience

using Community leaders is an appropriate strategy.

I would like to see what strategies would be needed to communicate to large ethnic

groups who do not have a sense of community or religious or cultural traditions that

allow them to gather ‘en masse’, like the Asian Community. Prior to this research

taking place, the FRS will need to record the ethnicity of all households engaged in

fire, to identify which ethnic groups are at risk around the country before deploying a

strategy to communicate the Fire Safety message direct to that audience, where the

threat is large.

The approach of using and employing outreach workers from these communities is

presumed to be an approach that would work as would be employing or encouraging

such minorities to work for the Fire Service. It would be sensible to use personnel

who already work for the FRS from these communities as part of the planning, design

and possible approach to get the message across, in a similar fashion as was

employed in the DFSC, with hopefully a similar amount of success.

Perhaps the various different government agencies and bodies who are currently

involved in targeting ethnic minorities could share their experiences. They could

document their approach and their individual case for others to see what can and



can’t be done in different communities. Thus building invaluable knowledge for others

to share and work upon in the ethnic marketing arena, preventing possible

reinvention of the wheel or duplication of effort, when campaigns are devised across

the different government activities. There may be synergies across different

government areas, which would no doubt improve government communication and

dialogue with such groups whilst keeping costs down.

11. 0 PERSONAL REFLECTIONS

11.1 How did I develop in the course of the project?

I have learnt a considerable amount about myself and that the topic I have chosen is

something that has allowed me to gain insight into the workings of the FRS and also

get close to the Hindu Community of Leicester. Whilst I am a member of just one

community group, that is based in Leicester, the dissertation has allowed me to talk

to other Hindu community groups. They have been inspired to see an MBA graduate

from De Montfort University, look at this Campaign in more detail and engage in

research on this social phenomenon.

It has also allowed me to engage with the Community and give feedback to the

LFRSES and also the Community, so that the effects of Diva Fires can remain

minimal in the future. I hope my recommendations of being able to classify ‘divas’ as

fires in their own right are taken on board via the FRS, as they are very different to

Candles and by recording fires in this way, will allow an appropriate evaluation of the

size of the threat and also how to prevent the threat should the problem be financial

and economically significant nationally.



11.2 What advice would you offer to someone undertaking this project in the future?

I would advice that they choose a topic that interests them. Whilst there has been no

specific literature related to the DFSC, by looking at the broader topic are of Fire

Safety education, I was able to ascertain some of the problems associated with

campaigns to vulnerable groups, of which ethnic minorities is just one those groups. I

look to offer a practical, real life case study that can be used or built upon by other

researchers. Finally, I would advice doing a topic where you can access the

information readily and an area that perhaps is less frequent to regulatory change, as

is the FRS. Nevertheless I have been able to apply my MBA learning to a practical

issue which will no doubt be explored in depth by others in the future in line with

recent changes in the Fire Service arena from fire fighting to saving lives through

prevention and education.

11.3 What personal lessons I have learnt?

The skills I have acquired on the MBA can be applied to give solutions and guidance

in topic area that is rather underdeveloped. Had I not evaluated the DFSC, the LFRS

ES like so many other Fire Brigades around the world, would not have been able to

evaluate the campaign from a consumer attitude or change in behaviour perspective.

This is consistent with all the literature in Fire Safety education, which highlights the

problems with targeted campaigns to vulnerable groups, that is, little or no evaluation

of attitudes, awareness or behaviour happens. Evaluation on the basis of the quantity

of fires in that area is not a valid criterion for analysis due to the program effect or



due to uncontrollable factors that happen in the environment that could negate the

possibility of a fire. I have also learnt about a new industry and the role that regulation

can be play in guiding research and education or promotional campaigns.

The DFSC had moved me and I hope others will be motivated to look at areas, which

lack specific research, just as I have in this case.



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, action tomorrow?”, Profile, Issue 42



APPENDICES

APPENDIX 1 20



APPENDICES

1 TO 20



APPENDICES

Background Descriptive Documents

1. Diva Fire Safety Initiative Leaflet

2. Diva Safety Campaign Time line of Activities

3. BBC News article Candle to blame for fire deaths

4. Minal Sikotra’s input in to Diva Poster Design

5. Leicester Mercury article Have a safe Diwali, urge firefighters

6. Leicester Mercury article – Candlelight prayer appeal to warn of blaze dangers

7. LFRS Diva Safety Initiative presentation slide to Hindu Faith Groups

8. Bhakti Darshan Article – Message from General Secretary

9. LFRS – Call Out Magazine – Diva Campaign at Eastern Station

Fire Service Documentation

10. Organisational structure LFRS

11. Time line of Key Regulatory Acts governing UK Fire Rescue Service

12. Comment from Paul Dickens – why lack of research?

13. Letter for authorizing case to David Webb, Chief Fire Officer

Data Collection and Summary of results

14. In depth interview Steve Kisby

15. Questionnaire

16. A. Summary of results by Gender

16. B. Summary of results by Age Group

17. Qualitative statements from Hindu Gujarati respondents

18. Qualitative statements from people involved in DFSC

Outcomes from the DFSC

19. Fires caused by Naked Lights/Candles – 2004/5

20. LFRS – CFA Memorandum – Fire Industry Awards 2005

APPENDIX 1 Jai Shree Krishna

We understand and respect that Hindu’s light a Diva in the presence of God. However for your own safety, for the safety of your family and home, please follow the advice as demonstrated.

SHREE SANATAN MANDIR & COMMUNITY CENTRE

84 Weymouth Street (Off Catherine Street), Leicester, LE4 6FQ Tel: (0116) 266 1402

Email: [email protected]

Chunri – Make sure you keep the Chunri well away from the Diva.

Children – Make sure the Diva is not easily reached by Children. They can burn their fingers and drop it causing a fire.

Overnight – DO NOT keep the Diva

unattended overnight.

Electric – Have you thought about using an Electric Diva?

Saree and Long Hair – Keep yourself well away. Previously

Saree’s and long hair have caught fire and

Garland – are highly inflammable as they are

made of Silk and Woodchip, so you must keep them away from the Diva and insure they are securely fastened and do

not fall on the Diva.

Ghee – Just put enough Ghee into the Diva, so you

do not leave the Diva unattended, making sure it

goes out.



APPENDIX 2 : TIME LINE OF ACTIVITIES – DIVA FIRE SAFETY CAMPAIGN

Dec 2003 Steve Kisby (Fire Fighter) was talking about the issue of Diva fires with another Fire Fighter, Carl Clayton, started looking at trends and mapping of such fires across Leicester Brigades

Feb 2004 Statistics on fires due to divas to be completed by Steve Kisby and Carl Clayton Contact local Hindu Temple Mina Patel, Diversity Safety Officer LFRS & ADO Percival Purchase Mandir

Mar 2004 Design Mandir with safety points.

April 2004 Death of 5 people from unattended Diva Fire (Sharma Family)

Consulted and sought advice from Community leaders and Council of faiths on approach, given tragic fire with Sharma family. Compile & design leaflet via a 2way brainstorm between Mina Patel and Minal Sikotra, DMU Placement Student at Shree Sanatan Mandir, Weymouth St, Leicester. Mandir photographed for use in the Flyer/Poster Leaflet copy designed by Mina Patel and Minal Sikotra Liaised back to Steve Kisby, Carl Clayton over design format and what message we as Fire Fighters wanted to get across based on diva fires we had attended in the past. Copy was translated in to Gujarati on one side by Shree Sanatan Mandir. Logo of Shree Sanatan and LFRS was placed to add credibility and show a working partnership. 7000 A4 Colour leaflets and a multitude of posters produced

May 2004 4 th May 2004 – Outline program of activity for Diva Safety to a few Community Leaders 24 th May 2004 – Diva Fire Safety Launch Presentation to 50 people in the Community, including the local press, with food and a discussion on what LFRS were doing.

October 2004 Over 9 day Navratri Festival –, LFRSES did 4 Fire talks & Hand delivered 800 flyers to Gujarati Residents at various community hall (who are known to celebrate this event). Another 10 watches covered another 10 venues in the city. A total of 5000 Gujarati residents reached.

November 2004 Aim to raise awareness of fire threat again. Distributed 2000 flyers and posters over Diwali Festival period. Displayed posters and left flyers in Indian retail shops on Melton Rd, over the period. National Launch of Campaign – 120 people attended – local campaign taken Nationally by ODPM.

March 2005 Holi festival 17 th March 2005 Fire Pod & Chip Pan demonstration at Cossington Park to Hindu Gujarati residents – total people at event 1000. Campaign ends for the year, will restart just before Navratri

April – June 2005 Wins National ‘Fire Safety Award’



APPENDIX 3 BBC News Article – Candle to blame for fire deaths

Candle to blame for fire deaths

Five members of a family died in a fire when a religious candle set fire to a shrine, an inquest has heard.

Three generations of the Sharma family died from breathing smoke as fire swept through their home in the Rowley Fields area of Leicester on 5 April.

The fire broke out just after Deepak Sharma, 33, left for work. Mr Sharma lost his wife, two children, mother and brother in the fire.

Verdicts of accidental deaths were recorded on Tuesday.

He told the inquest, as a practising Hindu he lit a candle every morning and said prayers, before going to work on his market stall.

A diva flame is placed within the family shrine along with pictures and other items of significance.

'Absolutely helpless'

Neighbours contacted Mr Sharma soon afterwards to tell him the house on Somerville Road was on fire.

He phoned his wife on her mobile, but only heard coughing before the phone cut off.

He said he had felt "absolutely helpless" when he returned to the house, but was held back by police.

Mr Sharma's wife Dimpal , 29, and their two children Pritika, three, and Sunit, seven died in the fire.

His mother Vinod, 51, and brother Veepan, 31, were also killed.

The inquest was told there were no smoke alarms installed at the house.

Rashmikamt Joshi, a Hindu representative on Leicester City Council, told the inquest that lighting diva candles was an important part of daily worship for Hindus and he called for a nationwide campaign to highlight their fire risk.

He said people should be aware that the flame often becomes longer when the ghee in the candle is about to run out.

Mr Joshi praised an initiative by Leicestershire Fire and Rescue to raise awareness of the risks of the religious candles.

"It should be a national initiative where people are educated and made aware of the possible consequences of the humble diva but not to be frightened that we are doing something wrong.

"It's up to our faith to keep on that ritual."

A religious candle caused the fire which killed five family members

It should be a national initiative where people are educated and made aware of the possible consequences of the humble diva

Rashmikamt Joshi

Source : http://newswww.bbc.net.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/3697352.stm





APPENDIX 4 – Minal Sikotra’s input to Diva Poster Design

Aim:

The aim of this initiative was to bring to the attention of Hindu families the dangers associated with lighting a Diva in the Mandir and Fire safety.

Purpose:

I was contacted by the Leicestershire Fire and Rescue service on how we could educate the Hindu Community on being safe when lighting the Diva. The fire service had the following ideas they wanted me to consider.

1. The Leicester Mercury

The fire service thought it might be a good idea to place an advert in the Leicester Mercury and state that the Diva should not be lighted in the Mandir as it has caused many fires.

2. Setting light to a Mandir

To educate the community they thought it might be a good idea to demonstrate how easily a Mandir can burn.

I was shocked but smiled at their ignorance and explained that the above two initiatives would upset the Hindu community and they would be up in arms and would feel that their religious beliefs are not being respected.

The way forward:

After careful consideration I thought it would be a good idea for the Fire Service to work in partnership with the Hindu Temple to identify the problems and solutions. I arranged for them to meet the President Ramanbhai Barber. The outcome of the meeting was very positive as both parties objective was to protect the Hindu Community. I was asked for my ideas and with my IT background and knowledge on Hinduism I thought a leaflet would get the message across to many people.

Leaflet:

I felt it was important to show the Hindu Temple on the leaflet indicating the presence of God and the blessings from God. I shared this idea with the fire service and the President who also approved and asked me to work on the leaflet.

I decided to put the Temple picture in the middle of the leaflet as it was the core subject. I decided to put captions to describe how to prevent a fire around the Temple picture. As I am are working in partnership with the Fire service I put both of our logo’s on the bottom of the leaflet.

We also thought that we should get the same leaflet done but in a Gujarati format as some Hindu’s can just read Gujarati. So I have got Rita to write in Gujarati.

The leaflet has now been approved by the President and the Chief Fire Officer and now we will send it to the printers.

Diva Safety Initiative

APPENDIX 7

Why? For many years the Fire Service have attended Fire’s which have been caused by the lighting of Diva’s. Unfortunately, some have resulted on the

loss of lives.

The Way Forward To address this issue and educate the Hindu Community, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service have worked in

partnership with Shree Sanatan Mandir to produce a Diva Safety leaflet.

The Diva

• Respond – Education and Diva Safety leaflet.

Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service:

• Respect – The religious belief.

• Recognise – Hindu’s light a Diva for the presence of God.

Recognise Recognise – Hindu’s light a Diva for the presence of God.

Respect Respect – The religious belief.

Respond

Respond – Ideally we do not want to respond with Fire Engines

Respond

Respond – Education and Diva Safety leaflet.

Ghee

Use only enough ghee for a diva to last your Puja. However, if the diva is to burn for a long time, do not leave it unattended.

Chunri and Decorations

Fabric used for Chunri, decorations, photographs and cards placed in the Mandir are very flammable and should be kept well

away from the diva light.

Akhand Diva On occasions when the diva needs to be left to

burn overnight.

DO NOT keep the Diva unattended.

Children Children don’t always understand the dangers

associated with fire. Children attending the Mandir should always be supervised so that they can learn to respect the Mandir and the

light of the diva.

Garlands Garlands are often made of silk, paper or

woodchip and will easily burn. Garlands should be securely fastened away from the diva and should not be allowed to fall onto the diva.

Saree and Long Hair It is very easy to accidentally set light to a Saree and long hair if they fall into the flame of a diva. Keep clothing and hair well away from the light

of the diva, people have lost their lives in accidents involving Saree and hair.

Electric

Have you thought about using an Electric Diva?

Chunri and Decorations – Fabric

used for Chunri, decorations,

photographs and cards placed in the Mandir are very flammable and should be kept well

away from the diva light.

Garlands – Garlands are often made of silk, paper or woodchip and

will easily burn. Garlands should be securely fastened

away from the diva and should not be allowed to fall onto the diva.

Children – Children don’t always understand the

dangers associated with fire. Children

attending the Mandir should always be

supervised so that they can learn to respect the Mandir and the light of the diva.

Saree and Long Hair – It is very easy to accidentally set light to a Saree and long hair if they fall into the flame of a diva. Keep clothing and hair well away from the light of the diva, people have lost their lives in accidents

involving Saree and hair.

Akhand Diva On occasions when the

diva needs to be left to burn overnight, DO NOT keep the Diva

unattended.

Ghee – Use only enough ghee for a diva

to last your Puja. However, if the diva is to burn for a long time,

do not leave it unattended.

Electric – Have you thought about using an

Electric Diva?

Finally…..

• Photo’s of Diva Fire’s we have been to.

Before

After

After

Thank you

NAMASTE

APPENDIX 7

How successful was the Diva Fire Safety Campaign? Executive MBA – R D Mistry

APPENDIX 11 – TIME LINE OF KEY REGULATORY ACTS AND REPORTS THAT GOVERN HOW THE FIRE SERVICE OPERATES IN ENGLAND & WALES Page 1 of 3

Year Act/White Paper Key Points 1947 Fire Service Act 1947 • Emphasis on putting out Fires and protecting buildings.

• Resources, machinery deployed more nearer to the city than where actual people live. More resources available at night in the city of London then in the suburbs where most people live – a clear mismatch with need.

• Information given to people as and when requested • Reactive response to fires – as and when they occur rather than being proactive.

1995 In the Line of Fire Report – The Audit Commission

The Audit Commission published `In the Line of Fire', a wide ranging review of value for money in the fire service in England and Wales. • It encompassed the national framework, corporate and strategic management in brigades, the management of operational firefighters,

and provision of support services. • The review contained numerous suggestions for ways to make better use of resources which it was suggested would result in the saving

of lives, suffering and property. • It made specific recommendations for action by the Home Office and the Central Fire Brigades Advisory Council • in particular, it called for a review of the 1985 Standards of Fire Cover and for a shift in emphasis from firefighting

to fire prevention, based on research. • The Home Office should launch a research programme on standards of fire cover. The work was divided into three parts: risk

assessment; response options; and, fire safety. • The Home Office and brigades should consider a statutory fire safety promotion duty for fire authorities: this was considered by the

Community fire Safety Task Force, who recommended that Community Fire Safety should be made a Statutory Duty of the fire service. • The Home Office and brigades should encourage multiagency work on fire safety promotion: this was considered by the Community

Fire Safety Task Force, who endorsed the multiagency approach locally and also recommended the adoption of a new single integrated approach to Community Fire Safety.

1997

1997

Community Fire Safety Task force Recommendations the Home Office Safe as Houses Report

Community Fire Safety Task force recommendations the Home Office Safe as Houses Report

• A team set up to address the rise in fire incidents, deaths and casualties (public and private bodies)

• Propose a community fire safety strategy that reduces the risk of fire and incidence over a prolonged period

• One of the key recommendations was that there should be a shift in the primary focus of the Fire Service towards Community Fire Safety.

• Community Fire Safety is defined as 'proactive prevention and education efforts aimed at changing attitudes by properly planned and resourced campaigns'. The assumption is that the majority of domestic fires are preventable. They are mostly a result of a lack of care or inappropriate behaviour. The deaths and injuries they cause are therefore needless and to prevent them requires only simple steps to be taken by householders.

• They saw evidence that attitudes could be changed and cited the smoke alarm ownership campaign and local programmes in those



Services that practice Community Fire Safety as successful examples.

• Recommend that all Community Fire Safety Education Programmes should focus around three core messages as follows;prevention, detection, escape behaviour

• They also identified a lack of planning , both nationally and locally….no clear objectives for fire safety education and no coordinated planning process – campaigns were duplicated, quality of materials varied from good to poor across Fire Brigades.

• Recommended the need for a National Community Fire Safety Centre (NFSC) to oversee a National program of Fire Activity which local Brigades can run locally with the support of materials supplied by the NFSC. Aim to bring about cohesion and reduce duplication.

• A website run by the NFSC contains a wide variety of materials and information that Brigades can use as they go about their work. • Safe as Houses (Community Fire Safety Taskforce, 1997) estimated the national costs of introducing an educational campaign on

community fire safety as £18 million in England and Wales, based on the well developed, existing campaign in the West Midlands. 2001 Fire Service changes whom

it reports to Responsibility for the fire and rescue service was transferred from the Home Office in June 2001 to the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DLTR) and subsequently the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) (May 2002) 1 .

2002 The Future of the Fire Service – Sir George Bain (www.ifrs.org.uk) Independent review of the Fire Service

• Government needs to set out a clear and strategic direction for the Fire Service. Current Fire Service model is dated, focuses more on protecting commercial, public buildings than people itself.

• Deploy resources according to risk and to manage the risk New approach: Community Fire Safety. • Move resources in to Fire Prevention, Community Fire Safety, Fire Safety enforcement

2003 Our Fire and Rescue Service White paper

Plan of action to address the comments made by Sir George Bain

Major points highlighted

Note change in emphasis from fire fighting to fire prevention, from protecting buildings to people.

Government sets out its strategy and vision for the future describes the fundamental changes to the way in which the service is structured and run.

Government acknowledges that the fire and rescue service has been hampered by: q an outdated legislative framework; q an outdated structure; q weak institutional support; q an insufficient focus on risk prevention; and q poor human resources systems

The fire service focus until now has been on fire suppression. Traditionally, the fire service has organised its staffing levels and the location of fire fighters, stations and appliances to match nationally prescribed fire cover standards, originally set in the 1930s where the focus was on public buildings and not people. The largest single cause of deaths and injuries from fire is accidental fires in the home and not in public buildings and there is a statutory need to change the standards of fire cover. The Fire Service will be renamed The Fire and Rescue Service to reflect its broader role and legislate to put that role on a statutory footing to

1 Fires in the Home:findings from the 2002/3 British Crime Survey – ODPM, Fire Statistics and Research Branch, February 2004 – Georgina Ford



2003

Our Fire and Rescue Service White paper

cover Fires and Emergency rescue

Our vision is for a public sector fire and rescue service that: 1. is proactive in preventing fires and other risks, rather than simply reacting to fires 2. more accountable to the publics it serves. 3. focus more on prevention and managing risk 4. Must be better managed and more efficient.

The Government will do this by: • reviewing the building regulations; • rationalising fire safety legislation; • investing over £43m over the next three years in community fire safety and arson reduction measures • setting up a new legislative framework, based upon the level of risk rather than the existing system (dating back to the 1930s),

based upon the density of buildings in an area. • Policy development will be supported by research.

http://www.odpm.gov.uk/pns/DisplayPN.cgi?pn_id=2003_0121 2004 Fire Service Act 2004

Statutory duty to promote and prevent fires in the community, no longer discretionary

Prevention is now the focus

Repeals Fire Service Act 1947 – updates the act based on 2003 White Paper proposal

Main purpose: to modernise Fire and rescue Service that responds to the particular demands of the 21 st Century

Comprehensive reform of the statutory framework

Puts prevention of fires at the heart of legislation, the creation of a new duty to promote Fire Safety The Secretary of State must produce a National Framework for the Service which represents a ‘contract’ embodying a partnership approach between government and Fire Rescue Authorities to ensure a modern and effective service. The Act includes provisions that allow Government intervention where authorities are clearly failing to meet those expectations.

Statutory duty to prevent fire by engaging with the community

FRS carries out a wide range of activities to promote community fire safety, with the aim of preventing deaths and injuries in the home and reducing the impact of Fire on the community as a whole, this includes: fire safety education (vulnerable groups), smoke alarm installation, chip pan safety demonstrations, fire safety checks for householders and others. This work is carried out on a discretionary basis and the effect of section 6 is to impose a statutory duty.

2005/6 The Fire and Rescue National Framework

It sets out the Governments strategic objectives for the service and how they will support this. It will be for the fire and rescue service authorities to decide for themselves how the objectives of the framework are best achieved, in line with local needs and risks.



APPENDIX 12 – Comment from Paul Dickens, LFRS

Paul Dickens (Arson Task Force Leicestershire Fire & Rescue Service) commented:

“ Two areas of change that are, in my opinion, significant in accounting for the lack of in depth research conducted in fire safety in the home are:

1. Legislation 2. Standards of Fire Cover

1. Legislation

The Fire Services Act, 1947 stated under section 1.1.f that it would be the duty of fire authorities to provide for "efficient arrangements for the giving, when requested, of advice in respect of buildings and other property in the area of the fire authority as to fire prevention, restricting the spread of fires, and means of escape in case of fire".

Note by contrast the wording used in the Fire Services Act 2004, it's now the duty to "promote" and to provide "information, publicity and encouragement":

Brigades have always done something with regards to community fire safety but there was no dedicated budget and resources were begged and borrowed. The new act introduces a new duty that the Government is duty bound to fund. I would expect that over time research will be conducted in all the areas related to the promotion and encouragement of fire safety in the home

2. Standards of Fire Cover

Coupled with the above has come the introduction of the Integrated Risk Management Plan that the Fire & Rescue Service has been required to draw up. Within this the second sea change can be seen in which fire cover, which was originally in place in relation to building type and location has now been changed to life risk.

The highest fire cover was afforded to dense concentration of public buildings.........shops, offices, factories etc. Such buildings had different legislation applied to them , but all of them would have a number of active and passive fire safety systems which would provide for adequate means of escape in the event of a fire. However, the vast majority of people die in their own homes..........homes where they choose whether they will have a smoke alarm, whether they'll close the doors at night, whether they'll ensure that escape through the back door is readily available etc. The suburban areas in which most people live would have formally required one fire engine to attend in 810 minutes. By contrast the city centre dense concentration of public buildings would have required two fire engines in 5 minutes and a further one within 8 minutes.

This change in emphasis will also further the research into the most effective means of getting the principles of fire safety to be applied into private homes. Homes in which a whole range of different people, cultures, languages, age, gender, vulnerability etc are to be found. Here lies the real challenge which will be aided by careful research the likes of which you have started to do.”



APPENDIX 13 – Letter to David Webb, Chief Fire Officer

Mr R D Mistry 64 Clifford St Leicester LE3 5RF

18 May, 2006

Mr David Webb Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service Anstey Frith Leicester Rd Glenfield. Leicester.

Mr David Webb

I am writing to ask for your help. I am currently doing a part time MBA. I was interested in doing a case study on the Diva Fire Safety Campaign you are running as part of my final dissertation project. I came across your Campaign whilst attending the Navratri Festival at Shree Prajapatti Community Hall on Ulverscroft Rd last October, where I received a talk from one of your Fire Safety Officers and a bilingual leaflet raising the concerns of Fires from unattended Diva’s.

The Campaign moved me and I was interested in evaluating the Campaign in terms of its effectiveness by enlisting the help of the people who came up with the Campaign and the various local community groups who were involved. I would like to find out what impact the Campaign had on consumers in the Community and was hoping, if suitable approval is gained by you to ascertain such information, at our next major, Hindu Religious event , Holi on 17 th to 18 th March 2005, where I could possibly speak to members of the public ( naturally I will gain approval from the organizers first and then speak to them in my mother tongue, Gujarati or English).

I initially spoke to Amanda Kelly Pike (Jan 2005) on this Campaign who put me in touch with Steve Kisby, one of the Fire Safety Officers involved in the project, who mentioned, that Mina Patel came up with the Campaign. I have had a brief conversation with her and thought it was right to contact you to get an official approval, before progressing any further with this project. I would be happy to share my project with you and your colleagues. It is hoped that my project will enable practitioners, marketers and other public serving organizations an insight on how to go about conducting a campaign to a sub set of the ethnic community.

Unfortunately, my timescales for completion of this project is 30 th April 2005 and I hope you will be able to assist. I can be contacted on [email protected] or 0771 356 5257, should you require any further information. Given the time constraints, I would appreciate a prompt reply, so I can progress with the necessary fieldwork, analysis and subsequent write up.

Thanks in advance for your cooperation

Yours sincerely

Mr Rak Mistry Executive MBA, De Montfort University. TEL: 0116 251 9787 / Mobile: 0771 356 5257.



APPENDIX 14 In depth interview with Steve Kisby Leicester Eastern Station Fire Fighter

– Originator of Diva Fire Safety Campaign (March 2005) (Pages 1 4)

1. Who and why did you come up with the Campaign?

I came up with this in December 2003, when I talked about diva fires with a colleague, Carl Clayton. Suggested the idea and started to look at this on the Station management system (map of the geographical area) and plot the type of fires we had. I was in charge looking for correlations and seeing patterns – after 2 or 3 mths – I saw a pattern of house fires over 2 or 3 months in the Belgrave area and other Brigade watches – confirmed same findings. Fires came about from cooking or divas, with higher pattern in the run up to Diwali. Suggested doing something about this to my Station Manager, Ian Lockier. Was put in touch with Mina Patel, Diversity Safety Officer,who got in touch with the Community to see how we could best get the Diva Fire Safety message across. Tragically, there was 5 fatalities as a result of a Diva Fire in April 2004, which gave us more urgency in getting the message across.

2. Did you follow any academic processes in this area, or was the approach devised based on your local knowledge?

No. Didn’t have the knowledge, went through a learning evolving process. Community was consulted and involved in the planning and design of the program.

3. What was involved in the Campaign, explain all aspects of the Campaign?

Ongoing Campaign – launched May 2004 with local campaign at Shree Sanatan Mandir, Weymouth St, Leicester. Mina invited local community leaders from the Hindu community of Leicester and the press to the local campaign. Mina organized the venue, the food, invites to the people. About 50 people including the Mayor came. We presented a slide show about the Diva Safety Campaign including our mission statement, ‘to make every Gujarati Hindu in Leicester aware of the Diva Fire threat and the need to have working smoke alarms’. (see Call Out article for more details)

Produced a poster and flyer inconjunction with Shree Sanatan Mandir, who advised on copy and design, which Mina worked on. She liaised with us on what we as Fire Fighters wanted to cover in the flyer. 2 way dialogue between Shree Sanatan Mandir and Mina from LFRS together they put together the DFSC leaflet together. I believe a placement student devised the copy and poster design as part of their placement project. Leaflets and posters were produced.

We did about 4 Fire Talk presentations at Community religious events at Navratri and we handed out flyers to 800 people at a time. The same talks were done by other Brigade watches. We gave out 5000 flyers in this time.

We came up with other ideas and Mina advised us, that some of our ideas were a little over the top for example, we wanted to set a Mandir on fire at the religious event of Holi or Diwali to demonstrate the fire risks from leaving a diva unattended. But was advised this could offend the audience more than educate and it could be construed as being blasphemous and disrespectful to the audience whom they wished to communicate to, as a Mandir is regarded as sacred.

At Diwali we gave out more flyers and we got Asian retail venues on Melton and Belgrave Rd to display posters and flyers communicating the Diva fire safety message.

We will be taking the campaign and the posters to the next Hindu Religious event, Holi along with a Fire Safety Pos, which is like a room of house, where we will place the Mandir and talk to the target audience on the Fire threat. We will also demonstrate a Chip Pan Fire – to communicate other fire safety messages.



4. Did you get help and advice from the community concerned?

YES – Shree Sanatan Mandir – gave credibility. It was Fire Rescue Service talking with leaders consent – a joint initiative, if FRS did a leaflet, it would look different, this poster is from the community perspective and looks ‘Asian’ as Mina would say.

The poster depicts things that catch fire within context of the Diva and the Mandir garlands and Saris etc. Mina got a local school to do book marks – 11yrs to 16yr olds at Soar Valley School. Older generation not going to change their ways, a lady had a diva lit for 20 years, 24 hours a day, we can’t change her mind – all we can do is put in a smoke alarm, or get her listen and act on the safety message through communication be it through posters, friends , family or even Grandchildren.

5. How was contact made and did you find it easy to get access to the market concerned?

Through Mina Patel, Diversity Safety Officer, it’s her job. Leicester FRS has 9 full time stations, 11 part time stations, 1 Diversity safety officer for the 20 stations – who gives expert advise we then action it.

As Mina comes from the community and speaks the native language, it is easier for her to access the community leaders and MATV (local Asian TV News channel). She also works during the day and not on shifts like us, making contact with such people difficult.

Looking at station map – since the campaign – EFRS – has gone to 1 fire in 2 or 3 months, same time we had 2 or 3 fires in the period of Diwali. We actually had 2 Fires in 1 day , this time last year during Diwali.

6. Did you find any problems with your approach?

We had teething problems. My idea was to set a Mandir on fire at Cossington Park at Holi to end the ‘campaign’ with a bang –it was a complete No, No!

Suggested the use of the posters on cars, but was advised by the community leaders that such flyers may end up on the floor and as it had a picture of religious shrine and gods on it, it would be seen to be disrespectful. It is better to hand deliver and do fire talks.

We had a lack of continuity due to working shifts, relied on email and a lot of goodwill of people. Station Manager, Ian Lockier was our link with Mina, and Mina was outside link for the fire service. Cohesion difficult. Issues were discussed in 5 or 10 minutes between myself and Carl Clayton and relayed back to Ian.

This is not part of our job, we have to do training, it is a sideline, in addition for us to do things, we have to cut corners, we will do if we can. How can we hit as many people as possible with limited resources and lack of funds!

Next campaign we will do the same way. Don’t drag out the Campaign. Next campaign will be done on the same lines, we learnt from this approach.

7. What cost was involved?

No budget, I think. Mina can confirm this. Fire Brigade try and do as cheap as possible – as they got good kudos and publicity. Fire Brigade put more money resources in, when they started to see some results in the Campaign. Local, national launch hours, Estimated Man hours – 3 months, 8 months old Campaign – ran to Diwali – start again before Holi. Cost of publicity (local & national launch), cost of Mandir ask Mina, she will know.

8. Has the benefits of the Campaign outweighed the cost?

Yes, I think so.



9. Was it your intention to raise awareness of the fire threat across all the age ranges?

Yes

10. Could the Campaign been improved and what feedback would you give to Companies looking to target a specific large ethnic segment?

Can’t think it could be, did think about, how could we do this. Only way to improve, having the community fire people take it on. If we had people specifically doing Diva Campaign we could have done more, as we did this alongside our current tasks, we had to prioritise and make time.

Make the contacts, if you have someone who speaks the language and understands the language. Ideas need to be refined. You have to be open to that community you are trying to target. A lot of tolerance, if your selling things, only takes one person saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, to spoil things. They understand things differently.

We need a lot of tolerance. An insight in how they live and understand the way they live. Need to listen to the community.

11. In your opinion do you feel the approach would have to be different depending on the subject matter?

Yes depending on subject matter because it is fire service, all we have to do is help people, high kudos, if we were selling things on top of that it, we would have to do it differently. We have a grant from government for smoke alarms. 80% have smoke alarms, 80% Asian households have no smoke alarm. Because we are the FRS we have good credence, not out for our own gains, we are here to help them, if selling a product people would look at us skeptically.

12. Do you feel that Companies should directly target large ethnic groups if they have products to sell?

Yes it would make sense.

13. Do you feel a translated leaflet was able to get the message across to the older non English speaking residents?

Yes.

14. Who were the people involved in the Campaign, names and organisations?

Already covered.

15. Did you have any direct or indirect feedback on the Campaign from the community concerned?

Only through word of mouth – heard about if from the people, have got this leaflet, other watches the same, people are aware of it.

16. What were the results of the Campaign?

• Reduction of fires caused by the unattended divas • A lot of people are aware of the campaign as evidenced from word of mouth • FRS standing has been raised, look as partners rather than separate entity • Contacts made for the future and profile of LFRS raised – could have a wider impact,

encourage ethnic minorities from the community to join the LFRS, they are currently under represented, only time will tell.

• A total of 6 outreach community workers were recruited on the back of the Campaign, these individuals speak a multitude of different languages so we can sell the Fire Safety message to others in the community.



17. Is the initiative going to be used elsewhere?

Yes. Gone National. We are learning to do things regionally, across Fire Brigades – Nottingham – Eid, Northampton – Vaisaki. Great idea – probably Home Office or Regional Boards are coordinating this with the local fire brigades.

18. What would you do differently if you were to do the DFSC again?

Not much. All decided before the Sharma family fire. We were thinking of cancelling due to sensitivity. But it was the ideal time , as awareness levels was high.

Timing is everything it helped us. 5 people died. It’s tragic to do a campaign on the back of this, but it has got the message out. Apart from spending more money of advertising – like putting the Diva safety message on a bill board – costs an issue.

When the council close Melton Road for the day for Diwali, it would be good to get a stand. High profile more advertising if had time and money.



APPENDIX 15 DIVA FIRE SERVICE QUESTIONNAIRE (Pages 1 of 2)

Gender c Male c Female

Age c 0 – 14 yrs c 15 – 24 yrs c 2534 yr

c 35 – 44 yrs c 45 – 54 yrs c 55 –64 yrs c 65 yrs +

1. Are you aware of the Diva Fire Safety Campaign ran by the Leicester Fire Service?

c YES c NO Go to Q6

2. If yes, how were you aware of it? (tick all)

c Leaflet/Flyer c Poster c Fire Talk by Fire Service c TV c Friends c Press: Leicester Mercury c Family/Relatives c Children c Community newsletter c Mandir c Other Please list……………………………………

3. In your opinion, tell me what the Campaign is about? (tick all)

c Fire Safety c Diva as a Fire threat c The threat of increased fires during Diwali and Navratri c Details of how minimise Fires around the home c Fires resulting from cooking/frying oil

4. Has the Campaign changed your attitude and behaviour when lighting Diva’s?

c YES c NO c NO CHANGE

5. Were you aware that the Campaign has been running since May 2004 with increased publicity and promotion nearer to Navratri and Diwali ?

c YES c NO

6. Do you have a Smoke Alarm in your home?

c YES c NO go to Q9

7. If yes, when did you buy the Smoke Alarm?

c 0 – 8mths go to Q8 c 9mths 2 yrs c 2yrs 3 yrs c 4 yrs +

8. If you bought the smoke alarm in the last 8 months, was at as a result of the Diva Safety Campaign?

c YES c NO



9. Why do you not have a Smoke Alarm?

c Too expensive c Don’t need it c Haven’t got round to it. c Other (List reason)………………………………………….

10.Did you hear about the 5 Asian people who died in Leicester in April 2004, off the Narborough Rd?

c YES go to Q11 c NO go to Q12

11. Do you know what the cause of the Fire was?

c Unattended Diva c No Smoke Alarm c Fire started from cooking c Other cause (please list)…………………………………………….

12. What do you think of Diva Leaflet produced by the Leicester Fire Service (show)

Poor Excellent

a) language used on leaflet? 1 2 3 4 b) use of colours 1 2 3 4 c) the design (use of Mandir ) 1 2 3 4 d) Is the leaflet easy to understand 1 2 3 4

13. Has the leaflet made you change your behaviour with regard to Diva’s?

c YES c NO c NO CHANGE

14. In your opinion what is the best way to communicate a Fire Safety message to you?

c Posters c Fire Talks at Religious Functions/major events c Community Newsletter c Flyers in post c Asian Radio c Other Radio (Specify) c Asian local TV c Other TV (Specify) c Leicester Mercury c Asian local press (Specify) c Flyers hand delivered c Other (List)…………………………………………

15. Do you have any additional comments regarding the Diva Fire Safety Campaign that you would like to make? ___________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________

GENDER ANALYSIS Q9 Why no smoke alarm Male Female

GENDER 014 1524 2534 3544 4554 5564 65 too expensive 4 4 MALE 6 11 2 14 7 8 4 52 don’t need it 15 4 FEMALE 10 5 2 12 9 11 3 52 havent got round to it 4 8

16 16 4 26 16 19 7 104 other 12 8

Q1 Aware of DFSC Male Female Q10 Sharma Fire heard of Male Female Yes 65 69 Yes 77 77 No 35 31 No 23 23

Dont know 0 0

Q2 How aware Male Female Q11 What was cause? Male Female leaflet/flyer 27 35 Diva 38 58 TV 17 15 no smoke alarm 0 19 Familu/Relatives 4 3 cooking fire 0 0 Mandir 35 27 Other 8 8 Poster 19 23 Don’t know 8 15 Friends 0 8 Children 0 3 Poor Excellent Other 12 23 Q12 What do you think of leaflet? 1 2 3 4 MALE Fire/talk 19 19 a) language 4 16 45 69 Press 4 4 b) colours 8 69 73 Community Newsletter 0 0 c) design mandir use 45 77

d) ease of use 8 16 36 260

Q3 About Campaign Male Female Poor Excellent Fire Safety 50 31 Q12 What do you think of leaflet? 1 2 3 4 FEMALE Diva as a fire threat 53 50 a) language 4 38 210 276 diwali/Navratri 12 0 b) colours 38 207 292 House 8 8 c) design mandir use 54 195 308 Oil 12 0 d) ease of use 54 195 260 Don't know 8 11

Q13 Has leaflet change behaviour Male Female Q4 Change attitude/behaviour Male Female Yes 80 77

Yes 57 58 No 8 12 No 31 34 No change 12 11 No Change 12 8

Q14 Preferred communication Male Female Q5 Aware since May 2004 Male Female Posters 81 88

Yes 50 38 Community Newsletter 27 27 No 50 35 Asian Radio 31 19

Asian Local TV 35 27 Leic mercury 4 8

Q6 Smoke alarm Male Female Flyers hand 19 15 Yes 77 58 Fire Talks 65 77 No 23 15 Flyers post 8 8

Other radio 4 Other TV 8 12

Q8 Alarm bought due to DFSC Male Female Asian press 4 Yes 8 15 Other 27 27

APPENDIX 16A ANALYSIS OF RESULTS BY GENDER CATEGORY

How aware MALE MALE

Aware Preferred leaflet/flyer 27 27 TV 35 17 Familu/Relatives 4 Mandir 35 Poster 81 19 Friends Children Other 27 12 Fire/talk 65 19 Press 4 4 Community Newsletter 27

How aware FEMALE FEMALE Aware Preferred

leaflet/flyer 23 35 TV 27 15 Familu/Relatives 0 3 Mandir 0 27 Poster 88 23 Friends 0 8 Children 0 3 Other 27 23 Fire/talk 77 19 Press 12 4 Community Newsletter 27 0

Q9 Why no smoke alarm 014 1524 2534 3544 4554 5564 65 Too expensive NA 25 Don’t need it NA 25 25

Age 014 1524 2534 3544 4554 5564 65 TOTAL Havent got round to it NA 100 80 16 16 4 26 16 19 7 104 Other NA 25 50

Q1 Aware of DFSC 014 1524 2534 3544 4554 5564 65 Yes 55 50 50 75 75 90 80 Q10 Sharma Fire heard of 014 1524 2534 3544 4554 5564 65 No 45 50 50 25 25 10 20 Yes 88 65 40 75 50 60 80

No 0 25 20 14 25

Q2 How aware 014 1524 2534 3544 4554 5564 65 Leaflet/flyer 59 36 85 100 80 18 Q11 What was cause? 014 1524 2534 3544 4554 5564 65 TV 9 25 50 9 Diva 80 25 70 43 25 100 66 Family/Relatives 9 No smoke alarm 80 30 Mandir 9 45 25 27 Cooking Poster 9 50 50 36 Other Friends 9 Don’t know 20 50 29 75 33 Children 9 Other 18 Fire Talk 9 50 18 25 27 Q12 What do you think of leaflet? 014 1524 2534 3544 4554 5564 65 Press 9 25 a) Language 720 600 800 769 800 740 600 Com Newsletter 18 b) Colours 760 675 720 463 750 740 360

c) Mandir use 780 575 720 596 800 650 720 d) Ease of use 440 725 610 852 800 560 640

Q3 About Campaign 014 1524 2534 3544 4554 5564 65 Fire Safety 45 50 25 70 75 10 50 Q13 Has leaflet change behaviour 014 1524 2534 3544 4554 5564 65 Diva Fire Threat 55 50 75 45 50 90 50 Yes 50 68 80 66 75 80 75 Diwali/Navratri 10 50 20 No 0 25 20 29 25 0 0 House 25 20 No change 0 0 0 0 25 0 25 Oil 10 10 10 Other 10

Q14 Preferred communication 014 1524 2534 3544 4554 5564 65 Posters 21 22 52 80 38 65 33

Q4 Change attitude/behaviour 014 1524 2534 3544 4554 5564 65 Community Newsletter 33 12 55 4 Yes 50 80 90 55 75 90 60 Asian Radio 30 35 25 No 50 20 10 45 25 10 40 Asian Local TV 50 20 35 25

Leic mercury 25 8 Flyers hand 7 35 16 Fire Talks 15 25 20 48 75 80 33

Q5 Aware since May 2004 014 1524 2534 3544 4554 5564 65 Flyers post 12 60 13 Yes 20 100 30 29 25 80 Other radio 8 6 No 40 0 70 29 75 Other TV 9

Asian press 6 Other 16 12 12

Q6 Smoke alarm 014 1524 2534 3544 4554 5564 65 Yes 90 85 80 68 100 40 30 No 25 20 14 0 40

Q8 Alarm bought due to DFSC 014 1524 2534 3544 4554 5564 65 Yes 50 13 30 No 0

APPENDIX 16B SUMMARY OF RESULTS BY AGE CATEGORY



APPENDIX 17 Qualitative statements from Hindu Gujarati Respondents on DFSC.

1.“Too much information, not too the point” (1524, Male)

2.“It’s a good a campaign. I now use less ghee when I do my pooja and have bought a smoke alarm as a result”. (3544, Male)

3.“Should not use the Mandir in the background, as the message is do with fire safety and could look like its something to do with religion” (2534, Male)

4.“Saw poster at the Mandir, it was eye catching,colourful and got my attention”.(3544, Male)

5.“Didn’t know that 5 people died as result of diva fire, will not leave Diva unattended”. (4554 yrs, Male)

6.“Will use less ghee in the future”. (5564 yrs, Male)

7.“Shouldn’t use Mandir to communicate a fire and safety message” (65 yrs, Male)

8.“Writing is too small for older people like me!” (65 yrs, Male)

9.“Should have programs showing fire safety behaviour on TV (local and Asian channels) during the Navratri and Diwali period”. (2534 yrs, Male).

10.“I told my parents about the school project we had which was to promote Diva fire safety and we had to make book marks to promote the diva fire safety message”. (014 yrs, Female)

11.“Need to use more up to date mediums such as emails or text messaging. ( 014 yrs, Female)

12.“Should have basic fire safety training in school”. (014 yrs, Female)

13.“It’s good to see you ask questions about the campaign. It shows that the Fire Service is genuinely concerned about the diva threat and they want to see if we have got the message”.

(15 – 24 yr, Female)

14.“Leaflet should be brighter, colours used are dark. Did like the use of the Mandir as it shows the diva threat in context”. (2534yrs, Female)

15.“Its good to see the Fire Service work in partnership with the Shree Sanatan Mandir to get this message out.” (3544 yrs, Female)

16.“I like the use of the Mandir and the personal greeting which shows the Fire Service respects our culture”. (65 yrs, Female)

17.“I use less ghee now and I tie my long hair back so it won’t catch fire”.. (65 yrs, Female)

18.“I would like to see more fire demonstrations like the chip fire one I have seen today at community centres or religious events. It’s high impact and gets the fire safety message out”. (4454yrs, Female)

19.“The campaign has raised my attention to diva fire threat. I also remember reading about an elderly lady who had 3 accidental diva fires and she thanks god that she was saved by the fire service”. (65 yrs, Female)



APPENDIX 18 Other qualitative comments from people involved in the DFSC

“A great campaign, cultural insight and involving the community in the design of the program was key to its success. There was a lot of goodwill from the Community and the various faith groups involved which allowed the message to be sustained. Shree Sanatan Mandir was really helpful in allowing us to use their placement student, Minal Sikotra to design the poster, inconjunction with ourselves. Having the leaflet translated in to Gujarati from a member of the community, allowed the leaflet to convey the message to those who have little understanding of English. The use of English on the other side could be used to communicate to other age groups. The use of vivid colours and the use of pictures made the poster highly visible and memorable. The Campaign has succeeded my expectations.”

Mina Patel, Community Diversity Advisor, LFRS

“I was very happy to be involved in the design of the posters for the Diva Safety Initiative. The ideas were a combination of a brainstorm between myself and Mina Patel. I had some professional photographs taken of our Mandir. I thought it would be good to have captions in boxes around the Mandir, as ‘ if God was saying’ the key fire safety messages, as various Hindu Gods are visible within the Mandir. This way the message would be remembered by the target audience when they go about lighting Divas as part their prayers. The use of a personal greeting (Jai Shree Krishna) was very much by accident and with hindsight makes the flyer personally relevant to the target audience. It is the usual accustomed greeting used in the communication of religious information to community members in the Hindu Faith. I am very happy that my work has been recognized.”

Minal Sikotra, Shree Sanatan Mandir, DMU Business and Information Systems placement student

“Great campaign, we are happy to have helped. It was tragic to go to the inquest of the Sharma Family and see the devastation caused by the unattended diva, where 5 members of the Sharma family died. I was asked to tell the court the court about the ritual of lighting divas and a verdict of accidental death was recorded. I feel we have a duty to get fire safety message out to the community and welcome the LFRS Diva Safety Initiative. I have even written a piece regarding the safety of Divas in our annual community brochure, Bhakti Darshan hoping to get the message across to all our community members as they go about their daily pooja’s (prayers) so that a future tragedy of this type can be avoided in future.”

Raskmikant Joshi, General Secretary, Shree Hindu Temple, St Barnabas Rd. Leicester.

Map Reference IncidentNo Name Time/Date of Call Incident Address1 Incident Address2 Incident Address3 Closure Details Rescues Injured Fatal 456129 308216 00164 WESTERN 04/04/2004 14:39 FLAT 14; 14,BLUE GATES RD_BEAUMONT LEYS_LEICESTER FN 24.UNOCCUPIED FLAT INV.2BA 1HR.C:CANDLE D:QUAN OF RUBBISH DESTROYED 457155 302135 00188 SOUTHERN 05/04/2004 05:05 83,SOMERVILLE RD_ROWLEY FIELDS_LEICESTER F/N30.HOUSE.6BA2JETS.C:ACC.D:50%SEV GRD/1ST FLR REMAINDER HEAT/SMOKE 3 5 459133 302099 00637 CENTRAL 14/04/2004 22:08 TO REAR OF WEAVERS GARAGE OAKLAND RD_KNIGHTON FIELDS_LEICESTER FN 102. FLAT. 2BA 1HR C:UNATT CANDLES D:BATHROOM SEV FIRE FLAT SEV SMK 457203 307778 00775 WESTERN 17/04/2004 20:41 125, LIME GROVE CL_BEAUMONT LEYS_LEICESTER FIRE 122.FLAT FIRE.FOOA.C:ACC/CANDLES.D:CURTAINS&CHAIR/FIRE,FLAT/SMOKE 445583 314332 01430 COALVILLE 02/05/2004 16:27 38,ROCHDALE CRES_COALVILLE F/N 214.HOUSE INV.1 HR JET 4 BA USED.C:UNAT CANDLE.D:5% BY FIRE SLT SM 475871 319515 01824 MELTON MOWBRAY 12/05/2004 17:51 24,STAFFORD AVE_MELTON MOWBRAY F/N 266.FOOA. C:CANDLE KNOCKED OVER. D:25%LTROOM,10% REST OF HOUSE 460543 305160 02634 EASTERN 28/05/2004 21:53 41,PERCIVAL ST_LEICESTER FN 390.KITCHEN.OOA.C:UNATT CANDLE.D:MOD/F UNITS.MOD/SMK TO GRND FLOOR. 503384 310897 04634 OAKHAM 08/07/2004 12:40 14,HIGHLANDS,OFF,NEW RD_ryhall RYHALL F/N 686.HSE.FOOA.CAS CONV HOSP AMB C:UNATT CDL D:SL CARP FR SL SMK HAL 1 453827 320471 04686 LOUGHBOROUGH 09/07/2004 15:53 SMOKE ISSUING FROM REAR WINDOW 31, WATERSIDE CL_loughborough LOUGHBOROUGH FIRE 689. FLAT. 1HR. 4BA. C: MISPLACED CANDLE. D: SLT BY FIRE BEDROOM. 460086 306907 05952 EASTERN 03/08/2004 17:15 NEALFLEX LTD 336,HARRISON RD_LEICESTER FN852.SHOP INV.2BA 1HR.C:UNATTENDED CANDLE D:50% R/DOOR SEV DAMAGED 484973 292870 06116 UPPINGHAM 06/08/2004 22:06 5 ALPHA, BANBURY LA_great easton F/N 871. CANDLES IN GRATE. BOW. C:UNATTENDED CANDLES. C:5% TO CARPET. 456118 301382 06445 SOUTHERN 11/08/2004 15:09 1,EDWARD AVE_braunstone_leicester FN9014.BEDROOM INV.BOW.C:UNATTENDED CANDLE D:20% BED BY FIRE 459049 313781 07131 LOUGHBOROUGH 25/08/2004 22:03 A6 BYPASS_MOUNTSORREL F/N976.CARAVAN FIRE.2BA 2HPHR.C:UNATTENDED CANDLES.D:95% SEV BY FIRE 459817 307121 07573 EASTERN 04/09/2004 09:54 6,CAMERON AVE_leicester FN 1045.BEDROOM.1HR 2BA PPV.C:UNATTENDED CANDLE.D:MOD FIRE BEDRM LIGHT 460135 303172 07779 CENTRAL 08/09/2004 02:04 HEATHFIELD HOUSE (ywca) 236 london rd_leicester FIRE 1064 BEDROOM FOOA C:JOSTICK D:5% SLT FIRE/HT/SMKE TO CARPET 459362 306877 08004 EASTERN 12/09/2004 15:09 30, SHIRLEY ST_LEICESTER F/N1102.H/FIRE PERS REP.2BA1HR.C:CANDLE,D:FIRE DFLOOR/CURTAIN SMKROO 1 1 462452 299821 08685 WIGSTON 27/09/2004 19:08 85, ROSEMEAD DR_OADBY FN 1193.HOUSE.1HR.C:CANDLE D:SEV BY FIRE TO NET CURTNS. SMK TO 1ST FLR 460043 303366 09201 CENTRAL 10/10/2004 02:35 FLAT 4; 1,ST JAMES TER_leicester LEICESTER F/N 1262. BEDROOM. 4BA 1HR. C:CANDLE D:20% BY FIRE 50% BY SMK TO FLAT. 1 460134 303404 09624 CENTRAL 19/10/2004 02:21 10,KIMBERLEY RD_LEICESTER F/N 1310. BEDROOM. 1HR. 2BA. C:UN/ATT CANDLE. D:5% SEV TO BEDROOM/FIRE 1 442041 314490 10422 COALVILLE 05/11/2004 00:05 64,ASHBY RD_coalville COALVILLE FIRE 1401.STEREO.FOOA C:ACCIDENTAL CANDLE D:30% STEREO BY FIRE 460214 314922 11186 SYSTON 19/11/2004 16:30 STYLE EMPORIUM HAIRDRESSERS 29,COSSINGTON RD_sileby F/N 1489.CUPBOARD.FOOA.C:CANDLE IGN ACETONE FUMES.D:CUPBOARD SL/FIRE. 455360 300625 11924 SOUTHERN 06/12/2004 22:08 HILTON HOTEL LAVERSALL WY_BRAUNSTONE_LEICESTER FIRE 1587.HOTEL.FOOA C:ACC CANDLE ON NAPKIN D:NAPKIN AND TABLE CLOTH 473547 286724 11939 MARKET HARBOROUGH 07/12/2004 05:58 15,NITHSDALE AVE_MARKET HARBOROUGH F/N 1591.BEDROOM.4BA 2HR.C:UNATT CANDLE.D:60% FIRE B/ROOM 40% SMK HSE 460980 299524 12414 WIGSTON 17/12/2004 22:23 MISS A MORRIS; 27,AVONDALE RD_WIGSTON FIELDS FN 1658.NATIVITY SCENE.OOA.C:TEA LIGHT.D:SLT FIRE TO NATIVITY SCENE. 461647 309308 12440 SYSTON 18/12/2004 17:13 2,SANDIACRE DR_thurmaston F/N 1666. PAIR OF JEANS. OOA. C:CANDLE KNOCKED OVER. D:JEANS/FIRE. 493150 314403 12784 OAKHAM 27/12/2004 21:53 17,STRETTON RD_greetham GREETHAM FN 1725.BEDROOM.4BA 1HR.C:U/ATT CANDLEMATTRESS.D:50%/F BEDROOM,90%SMK 440275 318153 12922 COALVILLE 31/12/2004 23:05 HOLLY COTTAGE; LOWER MOOR RD_coleorton F/N.1736.GLASS FRNTD FIRE.1HRJ 2BA.C:CANDLE.D:15%SEV/FIRE,20%SMOKE DAM 463579 304705 12923 EASTERN 31/12/2004 23:45 39,PERKYN RD_thurnby lodge_leicester F/N 1737.TV SET.OOA. C:UNATNDED CANDLE.D:DEV/TV.MOD SMOKE GRND FLOOR. 459290 306046 13022 EASTERN 04/01/2005 09:18 37, ROBERTS RD_leicester FN 1754.TERR HOUSE.1HR 2BA.C:ACC UNATT DIVA.D:SEV DAM BEDRM,SMK HSE 453866 319766 13497 LOUGHBOROUGH 15/01/2005 23:48 FLAT; 43 ALPHA,NOTTINGHAM RD_loughborough LOUGHBOROUGH FN1819.FLAT.1HR.2BA.C:UNATT CANDLE.D:10% F/90% SMK BATHRM,30% SMK FLAT 454103,319630 13950 LOUGHBOROUGH 28/01/2005 19:27 45, RUSSELL ST_LOUGHBOROUGH F/N 1884.HOUSE INV.1HR 2BA.C:ACCIDENTAL.D:SEVERE TO ENTIRE ROOM BY SMK 460640 304162 14262 EASTERN 05/02/2005 20:46 11, GWENDOLEN RD_leicester F/N1929. BEDROOM INV. FOOA.2BA.PPV.C:UNATT CANDLE D:50% 1ST FLR BY SMK 457806 305180 15246 WESTERN 02/03/2005 12:36 89,REPTON ST_leicester F/N 2073.HOUSE.4BA/1HRJ.C:UNATTENDED DIVA LAMP.D:SEV SMKE TO LOUNGE. 457382 303433 13221 CENTRAL 09/01/2005 05:20 FLATS; 15,ASHLEIGH RD_LEICESTER FN1780.FIRE ON TOP FLOOR.2BA 2HR.C:ACCIDENTAL D:SEV BY FIRE,HEAT&SMOKE 447664 297927 15624 HINCKLEY 12/03/2005 07:23 101, MILL LA_EARL SHILTON EARL SHILTON FN2133.HOUSE.2BA 1HR.C:UNATT CANDLE D:SEV FIRE BEDROOM,MOD SMK HOUSE 460218 304592 15872 EASTERN 17/03/2005 10:54 NR TO THE ISLAMIC RELEIF 46,CHATSWORTH ST_LEICESTER FN 2162.FRONT RM.FOOA.C:UNATT INCENSE STICK.D:SLT DAM FIRE LT SMK HSE

APPENDIX 19 Fires Caused by Naked Lights / Candles 2004/05

BOLD DENOTES DIVA FIRES



APPENDIX 20 (Pages 1 of 3)

LEICESTER, LEICESTERSHIRE AND RUTLAND

COMBINED FIRE AUTHORITY

REPORT OF THE CHIEF FIRE AND RESCUE OFFICER

Meeting: 22nd June 2005 Agenda Item: 13

Subject: Fire Industry Awards 2005 – Community Fire Safety Award / Diva Campaign Survey

Officer to Contact: Howard Robinson 0116 2292051

Purpose Information

1. Introduction

1.1 This report is to inform Members of the Authority of the recent success of the Service at the Fire Industry Awards, at which we won the Community Fire Safety Award for the Fire Service.

2. Background

2.1 Every year the Fire Industry Awards recognise and reward best practice and innovation right across the fire sector.

2.2 The Awards Ceremony is one of the biggest annual gatherings and has become recognised as the Fire Industry’s ‘Oscars’.

2.3 This year’s Ceremony was staged alongside the International Fire Expo at the NEC, Birmingham. The event attracted widespread media coverage and was attended by over 600 of the industry’s most important and influential figureheads.

2.4 The Awards are broken down into 11 categories and the Authority was put forward in the Community Fire Safety Award – Fire Service category for the Diva Campaign, developed by the personnel from Eastern station with support from the Community Safety Support Team.

2.5 Our Diva Campaign, with its eyecatching leaflets that conveyed important advice on Diva safety, and the importance of smoke alarms, has been taken up by the ODPM and has received national recognition. This Award recognised the innovation that went into the Campaign and that it is seen nationally as best practice.

2.6 Our entry was able to beat off some very strong opposition and all those involved are to be congratulated on the Award for a job well done.



2.7 Since the Campaign was undertaken we have been looking at ways to measure the effectiveness of the Campaign and its message. The Service was approached by De Montfort University for ideas for research projects for its MBA students and a review of our Diva Campaign was put forward.

2.8 Rak Mistry, a student at De Montfort University, undertook a review of the effectiveness of the Campaign and the preliminary findings from this work are attached at Appendix 1.

2.9 This research shows that those people most likely to use Divas as part of their daily/religious prayers had a high awareness of the overall campaign.

3. Business case

3.1 The recent Award and the survey show the effectiveness of the Campaign in targeting atrisk groups in the community.

4. Organisational Risk Assessment

4.1 This award has increased our national standing and may provide opportunities for further recognition as an authority.

5. Proposal

5.1 The Authority notes the Fire Industry Award for the Diva Campaign and the outcome of the Campaign survey.

6. Staffing Implications

6.1 None 7. Equal Opportunities / Race Relations Implications

7.1 The Diva Campaign has had a significant impact on safety awareness amongst the Hindu community and has led to wider community partnership opportunities with other ethnic minority groups, through work with the Local Council of Faiths and other community based groups.

8. Legal Implications

8.1 None

9. Financial Implications

9.1 None as a direct result of this paper.

10. Environmental Considerations

10.1 None

11. Recommendations

11.1 That this paper is noted for information.

12. Background Papers/Meetings

12.1 None



APPENDIX 1 PRELIMINARY FINDINGS FROM THE DIVA FIRE SAFETY CAMPAIGN RAK MISTRY – EXECUTIVE MBA DMU

I am pleased to report a few generic findings from the Survey I carried out on 17th March 2005, at Cossington Park where I interviewed 104 people (54 Males and 54 females, of a multitude of ages). I chose to interview respondents at the religious event of Holi, as it was assumed that most of the people who attended Holi were likely to be recipients of the Campaign and whom were most likely to use Diva’s as part of their daily/religious prayers:

q Awareness of Diva Campaign 69% Males were aware and 65% of Females were aware High awareness of overall Campaign

q Best awareness came from :1) Temple 31%, Leaflet/Diva Flyer 31% (Joint first), 2) Posters 21%,3) Fire Talk 19%(gender responses have been added together and then divided)

q 5060% of the respondents sited when asked that the Campaign was about Diva as a Fire Threat

q 57% of Males and 58% of females said that their attitudes and behaviour had a changed since they were aware of the Campaign

q 77% awareness of the 5 people who died in the April 2004 Fire , however the cause of the fire across genders varied onsiderably with 58% females aware that the fire was as result of an unattended diva vs 38% of Male respondents.

q The Diva Leaflet was shown to all respondents and they were asked to rate on a scale of 1 to 4, what they thought of the leaflet in the following areas, the percentages below reflect the highest rankings selected by the respondents

Male Female Language on leaflet 72% 72% Use of colours 75% 75% Use of Temple 68% 68% Easy to understand 68% 68%

High liking for the Diva Safety leaflet in terms of design, language & use, across genders.

q Overall, 78% of respondents would now change their behaviour as a result of seeing this leaflet – this figure includes all respondents who not seen the flyer or aware of the Campaign.

q All respondents were asked to select from a list what communication method they preferred to get the Diva Fire Safety message across, the following were the top 5 out of a possible 12 options, least preferred was Leicester Mercury at 6%, followed by flyers/leaflets(direct mail) in the post at 4%.

Mode of communication Male Female Posters 81% 88% Fire Talks 65% 77% Asian local TV 35% 35% Community newsletter 27% 27% Asian Local Radio 35% 31%