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45 Degrees North: Fire Inspections In Rural Public Places [1]
['Donna Kallner', 'The Daily Yonder', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width', 'Vertical-Align Bottom .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar']
Date: 2024-10-04
Fire Prevention Week is October 6-12 this year. The 4K teacher in my rural community will invite a volunteer firefighter into her classroom as she does each year so the kids get to see someone they probably know put on full PPE, including air tank, face shield and the breathing apparatus that makes them sound like Darth Vader. Kids who don’t know there’s a friend behind all that scary equipment sometimes hide from rescuers when there’s a fire, and that can be deadly.
Volunteer fire departments across the country conduct school fire drills and other community outreach and education programs during Fire Prevention Week and throughout the year. One of those prevention programs is fire inspections. For business owners and employees who don’t know there’s a friend behind the clipboard, inspections can be scary. But fire inspections are foundational to community risk reduction programs in rural areas. So here are some things our rural communities should know about why we do fire inspections, what we find, and how we can all work together to keep public places safe.
Our funding may depend on it. Volunteer fire departments save local governments an estimated $46.9 billion per year. It’s a heck of a good deal for our communities– especially those whose volunteer departments operate largely on their own fundraising, grants and other programs. One of those programs in Wisconsin is known as the Two Percent Fire Dues: A portion of fire insurance premiums collected by insurers doing business in the state is set aside, and any municipality with a fire department is eligible to receive a portion. To get our share, the fire chief and the clerk of my rural township self-certify that our department is in substantial compliance with requirements that include incident reporting and fire inspections. We are subject to periodic audits. So we have two options: We can conduct and document inspections twice a year, or we can forfeit 2 Percent funding. My feeling is rural taxpayers would prefer that we recoup monies they paid in insurance premiums for use in our own communities.
A local knowledge base. When a volunteer fire department’s fire inspectors visit a site, they’re not just looking for items to check off a list. They’re also learning the layout of a building, what activities take place there, what might be stored and where. They’re sizing up particular hazards that might impact operations in an emergency. They’re running mental scenarios that incorporate concerns specific to that location. And while their inspections are focused on fire prevention, they’re also building a knowledge base for use in other situations like a tornado, flooding, a roof collapse, or a forced evacuation due to a highway or railway chemical spill or because of a wildland fire.
Volunteers get these jobs done. In my rural fire department, it’s volunteers who conduct inspections. Wisconsin statute considers every fire chief a deputy of the state Department of Safety and Professional Services. Chiefs or their appointed inspectors are required to make periodic inspections to identify conditions liable to cause fire or violate laws or local ordinances relating to fire hazards. For many years, our chief handled most inspections himself. In recent years, he has shared that task with other members who also understand building construction, fire protection systems, fire dynamics, and human behavior,
Of our two current inspectors, one is a retired commercial insurance adjustor and one is a former assistant fire chief. They try to time their unannounced visits for a) times local businesses are open and b) times that inspections are least likely to disrupt the conduct of business.
What they look for. The primary concerns of a fire inspection sound like simple common sense – egress, building services, storage and housekeeping, and fire protection systems. Many concerns noted by inspectors are easily remedied – often before inspectors leave the premises. Here are some examples.
Egress. Inspectors need to see that exits are identified, visible, accessible, and unobstructed, with doors that operate reliably in the direction of egress. There should be no substantial obstacles or impediments to full instant use in the case of fire or other emergency. And those doors should be clearly marked by lighted Exit signs.
Inspectors need to see that exits are identified, visible, accessible, and unobstructed, with doors that operate reliably in the direction of egress. There should be no substantial obstacles or impediments to full instant use in the case of fire or other emergency. And those doors should be clearly marked by lighted Exit signs. (Photo by Donna Kallner)
If UPS delivers a big load of boxes to a business’s back door moments before fire inspectors enter the building, you can probably expect them to be pretty understanding. But people shouldn’t have to shimmy sideways or step around stacks of stuff that seems to live in what should be a clear path to safety. And they shouldn’t have to guess where an exit might be. I once stayed at a church camp where a dorm-mate draped a towel over the annoyingly bright lighted Exit sign. An infraction like that may seem small until someone is delayed in getting out during an emergency.
Building services. As you might expect, electrical systems and heating, ventilation and air conditioning units are of particular concern to fire inspectors. They will want to ensure that the electrical panel box and main building disconnect are accessible. Electrical panels and breakers should be labeled, and any open spaces should have proper covers in place. Switches and outlets should have covers in place. Surge protectors should be connected directly to outlets. Extension cord use should be clearly temporary and not a substitute for permanent wiring.
A surprising aspect of the building services component is checking for elevators (as in “lifts”, not grain elevators). I’m pretty sure there are a couple of private homes in my rural area that have elevators. But until recently, I couldn’t think of a single public building that had one. Now, one of the churches does. I assume there will be an elevator evacuation scenario on our fire department training schedule in the year ahead.
Storage and housekeeping. A fire inspector hopes to find an orderly system for the temporary storage of combustible materials, which are not allowed to accumulate and are removed regularly from the premises of a public place. That’s sometimes a challenge in rural areas where businesses, like residents, have to either haul their own trash to a collection spot that’s open limited hours or hire someone else to haul it for them. And when space is at a premium (as it is 99.997% of the time), it may seem logical to employees to stash boxes and bags in the furnace room temporarily rather than have those items impede egress. But combustible materials should not be stored in electrical, boiler, mechanical or HVAC rooms. Those spaces should be clear of items that aren’t essential for operating the equipment they house.
Fire inspectors also hope to see that special containers, cabinets or rooms are used to store flammable or combustible liquids and other materials. Knowing the locations and contents of potentially hazardous materials is critical information for a volunteer fire department to have when responding to an incident at a rural business. For example, when my husband and I had a canoe and kayak business, the fire inspector knew where we stored solvents and resins, and our concerns about deadly gasses if the foam used in life jackets were to burn.
Fire protection systems. In addition to inspections by the health department, a rural restaurant probably has its kitchen hood fire suppression system inspected twice a year by someone else (not the fire department). And some camps are not only licensed by the state but also subject to surprise inspections that must comply with even higher standards to maintain accreditation. Reasons that include everything from insurability to being able to sleep at night impact the installation and use of fire alarm and suppression systems in some rural businesses.
In others, there may be no one aware that rechargeable wall-mounted fire extinguishers should be present and visible, that the gauge should read in the “green” (operational) level, and a tag showing the last service date from a qualified extinguisher technician should be attached. Businesses change hands, managers come and go and the state of a building’s fire extinguishers may be overlooked until fire inspectors visit. Inspectors know how important it is to have working fire extinguishers. I can recall two instances where a business’s fire extinguishers were used to contain vehicle fires that could otherwise have spread to become wildland fires before the fire department arrived.
Rechargeable wall-mounted fire extinguishers should be present and visible, the gauge should read in the “green” (operational) level, and a tag showing the last service date from a qualified extinguisher technician should be attached. (Photo by Donna Kallner)
Documenting the inspection. My community’s inspectors still use two-part carbonless forms to document inspections. The forms are signed by both an inspector and a representative from the site, and both get a copy. Inspection records are public records subject to open records law and must be maintained for seven years.
Violations. When inspectors note minor violations, they may simply advise the business to remedy the situation before their next inspection. More serious concerns or those that are not resolved from previous inspections may prompt a local volunteer fire department to call in a state inspector, whose has more tools to enforce compliance.
Resolving questions. Fire inspectors from rural fire departments will probably encounter situations that require some research to resolve. Do you need to track down someone to gain access to inspect a historic building that’s open to the public one weekend a year? Are fire extinguishers in the hallway sufficient in a small motel or should they be in each room? Do vacation rental by owner properties require inspections? Don’t be alarmed if inspectors say they need to research answers to a question. They’re trying to help, not hassle. And they want to get it right.
Donna Kallner writes from Langlade County in rural northern Wisconsin. She’s a member of the Wolf River Volunteer Fire Department.
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