Fire Department resumes inspections of commercial buildings

FIRE & SAFETY INSPECTIONS

After a months-long pause caused by COVID-19, the Concordia Fire Department has resumed its fire and safety inspections of commercial buildings.
"We do them for fire and safety reasons," said Fire Chief Eric Voss, "but it also helps the city's ISO (Insurance Service Office) rating, which helps lower the cost of insurance. It can also lower insurance for the building owner."
"For us, based on the PPC (public protection classification) rating, there can be a significant premium difference," said Jerlynn Johnston, the Shelter Insurance agent based in Concordia. "Chief Voss has done a great job lowering the city's from a five to a three. The lower the rating, the better."
Voss said that the inspections began in January, and he had hoped to complete all inspections by the end of the year. Due to delays resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, he is now working off of a March-to-March yearly time frame.
"We've done about 40 buildings so far," Voss said, "so we're not even a quarter of the way done."
Voss wanted to emphasize that the inspections do not result in fines, let alone shutting down a business. "We're trying to educate and work with the businesses and building owners to fix any issues. We'll call to schedule a convenient time for the inspection, and explain why we're doing the inspections. We want to make all our buildings as safe as possible."
During an inspection, a team of firefighters check to make sure the fire exits are not obstructed, aisles are wide enough for evacuation purposes, emergency signs and lighting are in working order, and that there is a clear access to breaker boxes.
"That's one of the big issues," Voss said. "Over time, things just get piled up. We all do it; we stack something here and there and forget about it. There should be a three-foot clearance around the breaker boxes in case emergency personnel need to shut off the power. The same goes for aisles. People just place things around, and over time the aisles tend to get narrower. There needs to be a clear egress for the exits of every building."
While performing the inspection, firefighter crews draw a schematic of the building, noting the locations of breakers boxes, fire extinguishers, and emergency exits. "We prepare the building in case emergency personnel have to enter the building in the future as the result of a fire or other emergency," Voss said.
The firefighters recently performed an inspection of city hall, and found an emergency light that was not functioning properly.
"Exit lights should function without power," said firefighter Derek Champlin, "so you need to make sure the batteries are working."
Champlin also stressed the importance of the inspections, without any penalties or citations to the building owners. "This is not a pass-fail thing. We don't want to cause any problems for anyone, especially in these times right now. But if a $20 fire extinguisher is needed to maybe save somebody's life someday, we're going to ask that you install it in your building."
The inspections will continue through the summer, and into the fall and winter.