Fire photography is the act of taking photographs of firefighting operations. Individuals that practise this form of photography are called fire photographers.

Since fire photography involves being close to dangerous situations, fire photographers must have special skills and knowledge about emergency incident scenes, operations, health and safety. Fire photographers are often required to wear firefighter protective equipment

Bunker gear

Bunker Gear or "Turnout Gear" are terms used by many firefighters to refer to their system of outer protective clothing. "Bunker gear" and "turnout gear" can refer, depending on the context, to just the trousers and boots, and jacket, or the entire combination of personal protective equipment and...

.

Uses of fire photography

The work of fire photographers has multiple applications:

• Investigation
  Fire investigation
  Fire investigation, sometimes referred to as origin and cause investigation, is the analysis of fire-related incidents. After firefighters extinguish a fire, an investigation is launched to determine the origin and cause of the fire or explosion...
  
  
• Training
  International Fire Service Training Association
  International Fire Service Training Association is an association of fire service personnel who are dedicated to upgrading fire fighting techniques and safety through training. The mission of IFSTA is to identify areas of need for training materials and to foster the development and validation of...
  
  
• Fire prevention
  Fire safety
  Fire safety refers to precautions that are taken to prevent or reduce the likelihood of a fire that may result in death, injury, or property damage, alert those in a structure to the presence of a fire in the event one occurs, better enable those threatened by a fire to survive, or to reduce the...
  
  
• Occupational health and safety
  Occupational safety and health
  Occupational safety and health is a cross-disciplinary area concerned with protecting the safety, health and welfare of people engaged in work or employment. The goal of all occupational safety and health programs is to foster a safe work environment...
  
  
• Post-incident analysis
• Improvement of the public's view on emergency work
• Strengthening of sense of belonging
  Sense of community
  Sense of community is a concept in community psychology and social psychology, as well as in several other research disciplines, such as urban sociology, which focuses on the experience of community rather than its structure, formation, setting, or other features...
  
   for firefighters

Involvement with fire departments

In general, fire photographers are not directly employed by fire department

Fire department

A fire department or fire brigade is a public or private organization that provides fire protection for a certain jurisdiction, which typically is a municipality, county, or fire protection district...

s. They provide a specialized photography service which may involve a fee per-photograph. Access to safety perimeters can be an issue for fire photographers, thus they usually develop good relationships with their local fire department to improve access to fire scenes. Such access may, at the fire department's discretion, require additional training or other arrangements.

Certification

A formal fire photographer certification process is being drafted by the International Organization of Fire Photography (IOFP). The intent of this certification is to attest that an individual has sufficient training, skills and knowledge in relevant areas (health & safety, firefighting operations, etc.) to operate within a safety perimeter of an emergency incident scene.

External links

• IFPA: International Fire Photographers Association
• IOFP: International Organization of Fire Photography
• CFPA: California Fire Photographers Association
• QFPA: Quebec Fire Photographers Association
• NJMFPA: New Jersey Metro Fire Photographers Association
• EPN: Emergency Photographers Network of Southern California
• CFPA: Connecticut Fire Photographers Association
• TFPA: Tidewater Fire Photographers Association