In August of 2018, I completed my first full year as the Deputy Chief of Prevention. The Prevention Division has been very busy. Meridian Fire’s Prevention Division consists of the Fire Marshal, two Fire Inspectors and now two Public Educators. We were able to hire a second full time Public Education Specialist to help Public Education Manager Pam Orr with her Division. Our city is growing at a rapid pace and we are diligent and focused on keeping pace.

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The Fire Prevention Division’s main focus areas are to prevent fires from occurring, minimize the impact of fires that do occur and determine the cause and origin of those fires whenever possible. Much of the work we do is dependent on our connection with the public, residents and business owners alike.

 

The prevention staff also conducts fire and life safety development review of potential new projects in the community. It is very important for our team to be actively involved at the pre-application process level. This allows us to be pro-active in identifying access issues, water flow needs for firefighting and potential life safety issues in the design of facilities - in turn providing for a greater level of safety for the public and firefighters. As you can imagine, we saw a large increase in pre-application meetings regarding new developments and commercial construction in 2018, so this keeps us busy!

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In 2018, we investigated more than 31 fires in our district and assisted other districts with fire investigations as needed. The fires were investigated, and where it was possible, a determination was made as to the cause. I obtained my International Association of Arson Investigators Certified Fire Investigator certification (IAAI – CFI) in 2018.  Inspector Overton passed the International Code Council (ICC) Fire Inspector I certification. Certifications such as these ensure we are following national standards and best practices for inspections and fire investigations.

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This year, we as a division completed 3,165 inspections of commercial buildings, up from 2,463 inspections in 2017 - a 23% increase.  There were 1,549 violations noted and 1,466 violations cleared. The top 5 list of violations found in order:

• Fire extinguishers: Annual service not completed or the extinguisher(s) were missing

• Exit signs: Burned out or not functioning

• Knox box violations: Providing a master key for fire department Knox boxes

• Extension cord misuse: Using extension cords instead of surge protectors

• Fire protection systems: Missing semi-annual or annual servicing

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All of these inspections make our city safer for the workers and our citizens frequenting these locations.

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In 2018 we had a total of 1,840 inspections entered into The Compliance Engine (TCE).  TCE is a third party company that helps us monitor and track occupancies that have fire alarms, fire sprinkler or cooking hoods with extinguishing systems. All of these systems are required, by code, to be tested and maintained on an annual or semiannual basis. TCE sends out notices for when the system(s) are due for inspection, sends reminder notices for re-inspections, and tracks when repairs are completed. This monitoring and tracking helps us ensure the businesses you frequent are safe and following the fire code. At the end of 2018, we had 129 deficiencies listed in the system, down from 202 in 2017. We have been working hard at getting these deficiencies corrected. 

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In addition to doing inspections and public education, I have been working alongside Meridian Police, the West Ada School District and many other partners on a school safety initiative. The initiatives have included lock down procedures, evacuation procedures, reverse evacuation and hall checks. The work we were doing caught the attention of the State Board of School Safety. They partnered with us and we are now taking the initiative statewide so all schools in Idaho will receive the same training. We also have a few schools in Utah that have joined as well! Our end goal is to keep our children safe here in Idaho.

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The Meridian Fire Prevention Division has been working with other departments in the valley so our efforts have been, and will continue to be in sync when it comes to language and application of new and future code editions. All the departments in the area are striving to work together for the safety of all of our communities!