Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, August 5, 1993                   TAG: 9308050253
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

FIRE DEPARTMENT SEEKS FEEDBACK ON ITS SERVICE

Now, it plans to send a customer service card.

City fire officials recently decided to start using the cards to gauge satisfaction with the way the department conducts its business. Caesars will be one of the first to receive the card.

"Let's face it, we're delivering a service to the customer," said Fire Chief Rawleigh Quarles. "We want to take a negative and turn it into a positive. The public needs to perceive us not as a necessary evil, but friends."

Quarles said the Roanoke Fire Department is the first in the region to use customer service cards, which grade service from poor to excellent.

Besides the department's effectiveness in dousing blazes, Quarles hopes the surveys will show how firefighters are treating the public.

The card, which has pre-paid postage, also has a space for customer comments.

He said the department will use the cards to rate not only its firefighting services but also its fire investigation, emergency medical, hazardous material and fire prevention programs as well.

"We should deliver these services with the enthusiasm of someone in the private sector," Quarles said. "We want to deliver these services in the best way possible."

The Fire Department is following the lead of several other city departments - like the police and building departments - which already use the cards.

Quarles said he expects to use the cards only when significant property damage or personal injuries occur.

"Basically, it will enhance our ability to better serve our customers," said Fire Capt. Thomas W. Tyree. "At least it will give us an opportunity to explain why we did certain things in responding to a fire."

Tyree said residents sometimes misunderstand when they are rerouted away from fire scenes or when firefighters have to chop holes in a wall to vent heat from a burning building.

"This way we can explain and not leave a bad impression," Tyree said.

He said the Fire Department already tries to answer citizens' complaints, but the customer service card will provide a more uniform way of gathering citizen input.

"Of course, when you break with tradition, there will be some questions," he said.

"The main thing we're looking for is how we treat the customer."