Ready or not - here he comes
Fire marshal continues classes to prepare businesses for inspection
By SHARON KERR Staff Writer

Newsboy photo/ Sharon Kerr WHERE'S YOUR MEETING PLACE? Every employee should be prepared for Fire Marshal Stephen Williamson's pop-quiz inspections. Pictured above, fire extinguishers should be inspected and tagged annually.

Jasper Fire Marshal Stephen Williamson found only one code violation but made several recommendations when he inspected The Jasper Newsboy offices last Friday, March 3.

We had asked to tag along when Williamson started business inspections to do a story on the anatomy of an inspection. His reply was, "Great. Can we start with yours?"

As fire marshal, Williamson has the right to inspect any business for fire safety and city code violations, but he prefers to ask, rather than demand. His goal is to have all businesses inspected annually.

"The greatest fear people have is of the unknown," Williamson said. "I am a law enforcement officer, but when I do a fire inspection, I don't come looking to write tickets, I come to help."

Williamson is offering free classes to help remove the fear of the unknown. He gives business people a copy of the inspection form and asks them to take notes during a brief 30-minute session where they learn how to pass inspection.

Williamson will hold open classes for restaurants, who have the strictest codes, March 8, 13 and 14 at 3 p.m. at city hall, but the information will be useful to any business owner.

An inspection begins before Williamson even enters the building. The single code violation he found at the Newsboy office was a common problem in Jasper- no address number. The number should be posted where it is plainly visible from the street in letters at least three inches high and in a color contrasting with the background.

"We've had instances when we were trying to respond to an emergency, and we had to stop and knock on doors to ask people their address," Williamson said. "That should never happen. All businesses and homes are required to have an address displayed somewhere."

Williamson explained that most violations he finds are similar to this one; something easily fixed, and not too expensively at that.

"I am always aware that whenever I find a violation, it's going to cost somebody something," Williamson said. He typically gives the owner two weeks or fourteen working days to rectify the problem, and can frequently help them find cost effective ways to meet requirements.

There is one category of violations, though, that must be addressed immediately or else the business will have to shut down.

"Life safety violations must be corrected immediately," Williamson said. "It's a liability issue; if I see a life safety issue and don't take action, then if something were to happen, it would be on me and the city for allowing it to go on."

Inspections cover several major categories including fire detection and suppression, exits, drills, electrical and mechanical, and housekeeping.

Fire detection and

suppression

Williamson checks to see if fire detectors and fire suppression equipment, such as sprinklers or extinguishers, are present and maintained. But buildings can only be held to the codes of when they were built, so there is no sprinkler system in the Newsboy building, nor is it required. The office does have two fire extinguishers, recently inspected and properly tagged. Extinguishers should be serviced annually, but it is also a good idea to check the pressure gauge and periodically turn the extinguisher upside down.

"They have a powder inside," Williamson explained, "and it can cake up if you don't do that at least every six months or so. It's a simple thing to do to be sure it will work if you need it."

Exits

Exit doors are one of Williamson's pet peeves. "So many businesses will leave one of the double doors locked. That's a violation," Williamson said. "People just naturally try to exit the right-hand door. If it's locked and there's an emergency and people panic, it might cause a fatal pile-up."

One thing Williamson emphasizes in all his fire safety classes is, "Have an exit strategy. The way you came in may not be the best way out." In the Rhode Island night club fire that claimed so many lives, everyone tried to get out the front door when there were six other exits, Williamson said.

Fire exit doors should be plainly marked and always swing outward. It's also important that self-closing doors are properly maintained and nothing is allowed to block any exits.

Speaking of exits, Williamson pointed to a potted plant hanging in the window. "Exits aren't always what you think they are," he said. "In an emergency, that window could be your exit. It's a whole lot easier than trying to go through a wall."

Restaurants are under even stricter guidelines than most businesses. They cannot have deadbolts or secondary locks on exit doors.

Drills and plans

"Where's your meeting place?" is one of Williamson's favorite popquiz questions. Although most businesses are not required to conduct fire drills, Williamson recommends that all businesses develop a threepart emergency strategy that they review with each employee. The plan should cover evacuation, shelter in place, and lockdown.

Williamson posed a question, "If you drive up and the building is on fire, what's the first thing you want to know? If I come home and my house is on fire, I want to know where my family is and are they safe."

Setting up a meeting place and having everyone gather at an agreed location eliminates the anxiety of wondering if everyone got out okay. "That's as important as knowing where the exits are. It's a basic part of your evacuation plan," Williamson said.

It should be off the property and out of the firemen's way, but in plain sight. For the Newsboy office, Williamson recommended the bank building next door. At his own home, his family meeting place is the neighbor's front porch.

Shelter in place is when you don't leave the building, as for example during a hurricane or tornado. "When bad weather hits is not the time to be asking yourself which room is sturdiest," Williamson said. An interior room without windows is the best choice.

Lockdown would be similar. "You might be in a lockdown situation if, for example, the bank next door was being robbed and there was gunfire outside," Williamson explained. In that case, employees would want to lock doors, close the blinds "so the bad guys can't see you" and take shelter in an interior room.

Electrical and mechanical

Williamson can only require the building to meet the codes at the time it was constructed, but there is a catch. If the owner does any remodeling and ties into an existing system, the city can require them to bring the whole system up to code.

In the Newsboy building, there is a GFI(ground fault interrupter) circuit in the plug near the kitchen sink, but not the bathroom, which, due to the age of the building, is not required. Williamson does check that all switch and plug covers are in place and that fuses are labeled. He also checked each work station to see how the welter of wires are plugged in.

"Extensions cords are for temporary use only," Williamson said. Several fires he has investigated in Jasper can be traced to faulty or overloaded electric cords. All the computers are connected to power bars. Williamson says those are acceptable because they have fuses built into them.

Williamson located a ladder to crawl into the attic and check the gas water heater. He reported that it was installed properly and well vented, but recommended to publisher Jeff Reedy that a carbon monoxide detector be installed in the vicinity.

"It's not required," Williamson said.

"But it's common sense," Reedy replied. "I have one at my home, and it makes sense to put one here."

Williamson said that is a common reaction. "People in Jasper have been great to work with. When we do an inspection and they understand I'm there to help them, not write a citation, they want to make their work place safer. And I hope they take these ideas home and make improvements there, too."

Housekeeping

The Newsboy office has two areas stacked with newspapers. One is the archives, where several issues of each edition are kept on file, and the other is a back storage room. On Friday, in particular, it is stacked high with the Sunday sections of The Beaumont Enterprise.

When he sees a heavy fire load, Williamson looks to see if there is any source or cause of ignition. In this case, the only source would be if the ballast overheated in the fluorescent light fixture.

"An empty room, say with concrete floors and walls, has almost no fire load, and one with a lot of combustibles is said to have a heavy fire load," Williamson explained. "With paper, any heat source can cause ignition."

The room passed, but he recommended that the Newsboy install smoke detectors in at least the two paper storage areas, and Reedy said he will put them in the office as well.

Outside the back door, Williamson noted that the trash can was closer than he liked to the back door. "Think of someone tossing a cigarette in there. If it catches, do you really want it that close to your building? It should be at least five feet away."

Inspections continue

Williamson has already inspected a number of local businesses. He said he opened the phone book and began with "A," which means many auto dealers were first. He conducts informal surprise inspections whenever he goes to lunch or goes in a business.

"If something is in plain site, and as long as it is not a life safety violation, I just point out the problem and encourage people to correct it."

He has also inspected many of the nursing homes, medical facilities, churches and schools, and most of the city buildings. One nursing home had a sprinkler system, but the maintenance covers were rusted on.

"Those are what the first fire truck on the scene will hook into, to boost the water pressure so the suppression system can do its job," Williamson said. "Some people wonder why a fire truck might go to the back of a building when the fire is in the front, but that's what they are doing. The sprinkler system can knock the fire down faster and safer."

He said when the nursing home understood the purpose of the maintenance covers and what they were designed to do, they immediately took steps to fix the problem.

"That's the ideal situation," Williamson said. "When someone understands we're trying to help them, and they want to get things fixed."

"People can request a pre-inspection," Williamson said. "I'm out to improve safety, not create enemies. When I do a pre-inspection, I'll tell them what should be done, and then when I come back, I'll look to see if anything else has changed. I'm more worried about being safe than writing citations."