By Jennifer Edwards
The Cincinnati Enquirer

FAIRFIELD - If terrorists decide to target the Tristate, this Butler County suburb is ready.

In fact, Fairfield's preparations have been singled out for praise - the only city or county government in Ohio cited - in a report by the new U.S. Office of Homeland Security.

This community of 42,000 joins metropolitan giants Los Angeles, New York, and Atlanta in the National Homeland Security Report for its efforts to inform citizens about what to do in the face a natural disaster or emergency, increased training of emergency personnel and other initiatives officials have taken to prepare for mass destruction.

Fairfield, whose biggest claim to fame is the wacky food empire, Jungle Jim's International Farmers Market, is one of 21 cities acknowledged in the section of State and Local Actions for Homeland Security.

"The City of Fairfield, Ohio, has taken great care to establish a homeland security strategic plan that ensures the safety of its citizens and assets to the highest degree possible," the report states. "While the city had already developed a comprehensive plan for emergency response to a variety of situations prior to the September 11, 2001, attacks, the city has since upgraded and expanded their emergency preparedness strategies and efforts."

"I'll be darned. That's absolutely terrific," said Fairfield Councilman Ron D'Epifanio, chairman of the city's public safety committee. "Our staff always has the residents' best interests at heart and this is another case of them being proactive instead of reactive."

Fairfield officials stumbled upon the designation last week when staff members pulled up the July report on the Internet. The city submitted its action plan, which a Miami University intern helped write, in May after receiving a request from the National League of Cities.

Fairfield's steps mirror ones recommended by federal authorities and what is being done elsewhere nationally. But the city is specifically applauded in the report for updating and reviewing its disaster plans and increasing the number of police officers and firefighter/para- medics in the last two years.

They also receive a nod for participating in federal emergency management training, increasing security at the city's water treatment plant with fences and video surveillance and replacing eight older outdoor warning sirens with 10 new ones to provide better coverage.

Fairfield is praised for publishing a homeland security brochure mailed earlier this year to every resident and business owner in the city.

The flier outlines actions the city has taken to better secure Fairfield and steps citizens can take in the event of a community-wide emergency:

Lock doors and windows and notify authorities of suspicious activity.

How to handle suspicious packages.

What to stock in an emergency kit (1 gallon of water per person per day in an unbreakable container, non-perishable foods, etc).

Establish areas your family can meet near your home in the event of a disaster.

Contact numbers for emergency personnel.

The brochure was the brainchild of Fairfield City Manager Art Pizzano, who suggested it as a way to better communicate with residents, said Assistant City Manager Dennis Stuckey, who wrote the brochure.

It cost the city about $5,300, he said.

"One of the things that probably set us apart was the report that we had prepared and sent out to all the citizens, giving them information about what we had done as well as what we could do," Mr. Stuckey said. "We are a smaller community. A lot of big cities are doing things but not a lot of smaller cities were putting their case out there for the National League of Cities."

Officials at the National League of Cities in Washington, D.C., said they did not know how many cities responded to their security survey last spring for the Homeland Security Report.

Fairfield residents had mixed reactions on the city's preparedness. While some said they felt much more secure now, others said the city should be more concerned with more common, natural disasters such as tornados or severe flooding.

"I can't say that the brochure really made that much of an impression on me. I can't see Fairfield targeted by terrorists," said resident Keith Davis. "A tornado is something we have faced a couple of times here.''

Fairfield officials said the emergency awareness improvements such as the upgraded sirens also could be used for natural disasters such as tornados.

Neighboring communities such as West Chester and Cincinnati have increased training and added equipment, but neither has mailed out a special brochure to residents or businesses.

"Mailing brochures to everybody is one of those nice things to do but we have a tighter budgets than cities and would have to think hard about it," West Chester Township Trustee Catherine Stoker said. "I would like to see us using our (community television station) more on those orders. This is an issue we do need to explore."

Cincinnati Fire Chief Robert Wright said the disadvantage with mailing pamphlets is that there's no way of knowing how many people read and understand them. He said he is concentrating on educating the public about terrorism safety measures through programs at schools and community advisory panels.

"I am not knocking it," he said of mailers. "But we like to do more face-to-face interaction so we can field questions and listen to citizens' concerns."

The Butler County Emergency Management Agency has used pamphlet mailings as a public education tool, Executive Director William Turner said. The agency distributed safety pamphlets at community fairs and has placed a lot of safety information on its Web site.

The county has spent about $70,000 on detection instruments for nuclear, chemical and biological warfare and another $45,000 on protective gear for hazardous materials and police, he said. The county also has trained about 1,000 public safety workers in police and fire agencies throughout Butler County on domestic preparedness awareness.

Reporter Steve Kemme contributed.

E-mail jedwards@enquirer.com.