Mobile Fire Rescue Department · 2018-08-28 · Mobile Fire Rescue Department 2017-18 Community Risk Reduction Annual Report Dwayne M Penn Sr. District Chief - August 13, 2018 COMMUNITY

Mobile Fire Rescue Department 2017-18 Community Risk Reduction Annual Report

Dwayne M Penn Sr. District Chief - August 13, 2018

COMMUNITY RISK REDUCTION - 2017-18 �1

ThemissionofyourCommunityRiskReduc4onTeamistopreventdeath,injuriesandpropertylossbypromo4ngasafeliving

environmentbyprovidingaprofessionalapproachofLifeSafetyEduca4on,CodeComplianceandFireInves4ga4onServices.

The Office of Community Risk Reduc5on’s main objec5ve is to preventdeath, injury, and property loss from fire by promo5ng a safe livingenvironment through the professional applica5on of code enforcement,plan review, inves5ga5on, educa5on and interven5on programs. TheMobile Fire-Rescue Fire Risk Reduc5on Division has adopted theInterna5onal Fire Code 2012, and NFPA as a standard of safety. Thesedocuments are a guide to a safer community and serve as a cornerstonemodel for Community Risk Reduc5on (CRR) programming throughout theCity of Mobile. The Fire Preven5on Division has a wide range ofresponsibili5eswithintheCityofMobile.OurfocalpointsarethefiveE’sofpreven5on: Educa4on, Engineering, Enforcement, Economic Incen4vesandEmergencyResponse.

Educa5on interven5on programs are offered to every person in the

community by the MFRD. However we specifically target the morevulnerableinthecommunity.Westrivetothoroughlyeducatetheyoungestto the most senior members of our community. Educa5on interven5ongivesyourCRRteamanopportunitytoreachandteameveryaspectoftheCityofMobile. Educa5oninterven5onisvitaltosafetyandcri5calto thesuccess of any CRR program. All our personnel are required to possessvarying degrees of specialized training, cer5fica5on, instruc5on andcon5nuingeduca5on.

Engineeringiswhenyourdedicatedplansreviewpersonnelworkwith

design professionals, contractors, building department, and urbandevelopment, reviewing the latestfireprotec5ondesign thatwillbemosteffec5ve and efficient for our most important customer, the Ci5zens ofMobile. Thingssuchassprinklerprotec5on,loca5onandnumberofexits,means of access and egress can all be factored in and considered wellbeforestartofconstruc5on.


Enforcement team discovers origin and cause of the fire. Our

personnel candeterminewhere thefireoriginatedandwhatwasused tostartthefire. Thisinvolvesassis5ngandat5mestakingtheleadwithourlocal police and federal agencies. This requires excellent communica5onanddocumenta5onskills. Theoriginandcausepersonnelcollectevidencetobeprocessed; interactwithpropertyowners,policedetec5vesandourlocal DA’s office to bring about an arrest. This team operates under theMobile Fire Department’s own Origina5ng Repor5ng Iden5fier (ORI)number. This ORI number is a unique number assigned to each lawenforcementagency.Itisawaytoiden5fyexactlywhomadearequestandwhere the response should be returned. In short, it is another way ofholdingpar5esresponsibleandaccountable. Theunitalsopar5cipates intheATF’sBombArsonTrackingSystem(BATS).Thissystemallowstheteamtotracksuspectsacrosscityorstatelines. Italsoallowsotheragenciestotrackcommontrendsofanypoten5alarsonsuspect.

Economic Incen5ve is how we encourage our local businesses to

enhancethecommunitysafety. Withsafetybeingtheutmostimportance,your CRR team recognize that culmina5ng a partnership is cri5cal tosuccess. Wearealwaysbeingcrea5veincon5nuingthegrowthoftheCityof Mobile. Your CRRteam con5nues theconversa5onwithourbusiness owners andhow they can play avital role in being al e ad i n g fo r c e i ns a fe t y mea su re st h r o u g h o u t t h ecommunity. Case inpoint, your CRR team


87,723$ PLAN REVIEW FEES 35%62,055$ INSTALL PERMITS 28%45,667$ ABOVEGROUND STORAGE TANK PERMITS 21%23,699$ ANNUAL CONTRACTOR PERMITS 11%3,870$ FOIA REPORTS 2%2,822$ LIFE SAFETY INSPECTIONS (inc. Day Care) 1%2,792$ FIREWORKS PERMITS 1%1,244$ FIRE REPORTS >1%1,048$ REINSPECTION FEES >1%

230,920$ TOTAL FOR 2017

2017 Revenue - Bureau of Fire Prevention

diligently work each apartmentsmanager to receive any Tax Credits thatmaybeafforded. TheTaxCredits typicallyare receiveda\er several lifesafetymeasuresaremet.

In 2017 the office contributed over $230,000 to the revenue of the city.Whilethenumbersares5llcomingin,the2018yearshouldbeconsistentorat a higher rate than last year. Those numbers are significant whenconsideringthestaffingra5o.Foreachandeveryfirecall,yourcommunityrisk reduc5on team is consideringwhat couldhavebeendone topreventthe incident. Your community risk reduc5on teamoperates in a proac5veapproachtoeliminateriskhazardstothecommunity.


Emergency Response is an en5ty that we are constantly reviewing,

revising and evalua5ng. The fire trucks leaving the fire sta5on whenresponding to a fire is the least desired and least effectual way that weprefer to operate. Each and everyfire call, your community riskreduc5on team is considering whatcouldhavebeendonetopreventtheincident. Your community riskreduc5on team operates in aproac5ve approach as opposed toreac5ve, in thatweare reviewwhathappened and how the event couldhavebeenprevented. Thismeasureis assessednot only local but acrossthe na5on. Best prac5ces are evaluated to consider ways of preven5ngsuch incidents from impac5ng our community. Your team reviews thesta5s5csanddatafromour911callcenter.Oncethisisanalyzed,measuresaredevisedtoimpacttheareawhereneedsarethegreatest.Thisissothattheteamcanbethemostimpacbulonthecommunity.

A\ereachresiden5alfire,membersofyourCRRteammakeanefforttogoout in that par5cular impacted community to offer smoke alarms andrecommendfurthersafetymeasures.

Wefeelitisimportanttobeanexampleandtobe“leading,notlagging”inallthingsincludingfirepreven5on.Westrivetobevirtuousandtoserveasamodelforothersurroundingci5esandcommuni5es.


DistrictChiefDwayneM.PennSr.

Educa7onSpecialistEngineering/CodeEnforcementCaptainD.Y.SmithCaptainSamAllenCaptainJ.H.OdomFirefighterB.Collins CaptainJ.I.MayInv.J.Hunter CaptainM.Campbell CaptainS.Tucker InspectorT.Sessions InspectorB.Moses

OfficeExecu7veAssistantsFaithKoppersmithIIIMaryJanePriceII

Du7esofYourCommunityRiskReduc7onTeam

PlansReview SpecialEvents PermitsIssued FireReportsIssuedBusinessInspec5ons KnoxBoxManagement FireCodeViola5on/ComplaintInves5ga5on PyrotechnicSafety VolunteerPreven5onProgram PublicEduca5on FOIARequests JuvenileFireSeier AboveGroundStorageTankInspec5ons FireInves5ga5onFoodTruckInspec5ons LifeSafetyInspec5ons(Adult&ChildDaycareFacili5es,NursingHomesetc.)


CommunityRiskReduc7on

PlansReview TheFireCodeOfficialfortheCityofMobileisresponsibleandaccountableforallfiresafetymeasures, includingbutnot limitedto interpreta5onandenforcement of the provisions of the City of Mobile Fire-RescueDepartment. Plans review involvesworkingwith design professionals, fireprotec5on system contractors, building department, and urbandevelopment. Thisinvolvesbeingabletocollaboratewithothersectorsofcitygovernment, suchasbuilding,mechanical,plumbingandelectrical,aswell as the generalcontractors, with thepurpose of bringingabout an effec5ve,e ffi c i e n t , a n dc o m p r e h e n s i v eapproachtoconduc5ngbusiness for our mostimportant customer,theCi5zensofMobile.

LifeSafetyLifeSafetyInspec5onsincludebusinessesthathaveapoten5alhighriskoflosstolifeandproperty. These high risk hazardsi n c l ude ho sp i t a l s , hotels, nursing homes,adultandchilddaycare facili5es, restaurantsand assembly places. A s a n a w a r e n e s smeasu re , a s i ng l e inspector is assigned tow o r k w i t h a l l apartment complexm a n a g e r s . A l l commercialprojectscallfor a fire system to be installed. Plans for thesystem are submiied f o r r e v i e w a n dpermimng. Through permitsandplansreview,thisofficecontribu5onto thecitygeneral fund isapproximately$219,300for2017YTD.


PublicEduca7on

ThePublicEduca5onProgramsoftheMobileFireDepartmentbenefitourcommunitytobesaferbyservingpeoplethroughknowledgeandtraining.Preparedness and preven5on are key components to avoiding andpreven5ng the consequences of fire. However, since our departmentresponds to more than just fires, our Public Educa5on efforts have alsoexpanded to more than just fire preven5on educa5on. Our programsinclude awide range of educa5on designed to iden5fy the behavior thatput our ci5zens and community at risk. Community Risk Reduc5on is thetargeted implementa5onofeduca5onand strategies to reduce risk in thecommunitybasedonspecificareasthatputthecommunityanditsci5zensindanger. Tomeetthesegoals,ourpartnershipwiththeMobile,AlabamaChapter of the American Red Cross was expanded. We u5lize media,newsleiers,anddoor-todoorac5vitytoaccomplishourgoalsby:

1.ProvidingafreeHomeSafetySurvey,whichincludesfireeduca5onandpreven5onstrategies.2.Installingfreesmokealarmsinhomestoreducedeathsandinjuries.

Methodsofgemngafreesmokealarminstalled Call: 251-208-5555 Email:[email protected] Public Education outreach to the community is accomplished through our

public safety messages and by hosting or attending a multitude of public events. Your CRR team installed over 2,000 smoke alarms for the citizens of Mobile in 2017 in an effort to ensure our citizens are further protected. As a valuable resource for training and education-related matters, your public educat ion support team has an extremely positive impact on the community. In 2017, your public

educa5on program outreach was used to provide fire safety and homehazardeduca5ontochildrenandadults.


mailto:[email protected]

JuvenileFireSeKerInterven7onProgram

The goal of TheMobile Fire Department Juvenile Fire Seier Interven5onProgramistoreducethefrequencyandseverityof the tragedy and trauma caused by child andyouth fire related ac5vi5es. The Fire SafetyDivisionestablishedthisna5onalprogramlocallymorethantwentyyearsago. Currentlyourteamhas two members that are Juvenile Fire Seierinterven5onists: Captain D.Y. Smith and CaptainJ.Y.Odom.

TheJuvenileFireSeierInterven5onprogramisaneduca5onaltoolthat isnotpuni5ve.Juvenileswhoareiden5fiedasbeinginvolvedwithfirerelatedac5vi5es are referred to the program. Once referred, a parent/guardianaccompanies the juvenile to meet with one or more Juvenile Fire SeierInterven5onists.Thismee5ngistodeterminethelevelofriskajuvenilehasatbeinginvolvedwithaddi5onalfiresemngac5vity.A\erthatrisklevel isdetermined,aneduca5onalplanismosto\enimplemented. Occasionally,


a juvenilemay be referred to amental health professional based on thelevelofrisk.

Theprogrammaynotbethesolu5ontoalljuvenilefiresemngtendencies,however, experience with those that have par5cipated in fire seierinterven5onprograms here and throughout the country have shown thatincidentsofrepeatfiresemnghavebeenreducedsignificantly.

Unfortunately, we are unable to make contact with some referrals, andotherschoosetorefusepar5cipa5on.Weknowtheprogramhasproducedposi5veresultsthathavehadaprofoundimpactonouryouth.

FireInves7ga7on

Yourfireoriginandcauseteamiscomprisedofonesinglefireinves5gatorforeachshi\andtwofollowuppersonstoassistwitheachcase. Thefireinves5ga5on is tasked with determining where the fire started (area oforigin) and what was used to start the fire. There are four causedetermina5onsofafire:

Accidental- a cause that does notinvolve an inten5onal human act toigniteor spread thefire intoanareawherethefireshouldnotbe

Incendiary- inten5onally ignitedunder circumstances in which thepersonknowsthatthefireshouldnotbeignited

Natural- a cause without any directhumaninterven5onorac5onsuchaslightning,earthquakeandwinds

Undetermined-afirethattheinves5gatorisunabletodetermineacause.This is where the cause cannot be proven to an acceptable level ofcertainty,orwherethefireiss5llunderinves5ga5onandcausemaybedeterminedlaterifnewinforma5onorevidenceisdiscovered.


The2017yearbroughtusafewsta7s7ctoimproveupon.

•323TotalInves.ga.onResponseswithapropertylossof5,794,100•121ArsonRelated-$2,640,600.00•22CivilianInjury•3CivilianDeath•47Arrest•15JuvenileArrest

SpecialEvents

Specialeventsmaybethemostunno5ceddutythroughoutfirepreven5on.These typically are special assignments from the fire chief or any electedofficial. Onerou5neeventistheassistanceofreviewingandremovingtheblightthroughoutthecity. Inspectorsworkwithotheragenciestoreducehazardsbymi5ga5ngabandonedanddilapidatedbuildings.Anothereventis the yearly Mardi Grasinspec5ons. The inspectormeets with the president ofeach organiza5on to explainour expecta5ons for the nightofeventsandwhat isrequired.EachandeveryMardiGrasfloathas to go through a pre-inspec5on. During the pre-inspec5on the inspectors arelookingtomakesurethefloatshaveafireex5nguisheroneachfloorandthateachfloatissafe. Theyalsomake sure exit signs are not painted or covered from the view of floatriders.Thisisfurtherexaminedthenightthefloatisexpectedtoberidden.


Each ballroom has to be inspected the night of the event. Ballroomdecora5onsandfooddishesmustbeexaminedtomeetcoderequirementsand be fire resistant. Furthermore, all downtown nightlife has to beregulated for occupancy load. Included in special events are recrui5ngeffortsfortheMFRD,annualFireExpo,Na5onalNightOut, instruc5ngourci5zens in CPR,MDA boot drive and a fire ex5nguisher class. The specialassignmentstypicallycomeasmanagingandtakingtheleadoftheAnnualBanquetandtheFireExpo. It involvesgemngseveralofour internalandexternalcostumersinvolved.

KnoxBoxManagement

Intheyear2000theCityofMobileadoptedtheordinancethatallowslocalbusinessestobeaccessedbyfiredepartmentpersonnel. MaintainingtheKnoxBoxkeysystemprovidesaccesstocommercialbusinesses. Aspartofthecityordinance,eachbuilding isrequiredtohaveaKnoxBox.This istopreventdamageand to reducedelaysoffire crewsaccessing thebuilding

a\er standard business hours. Out of the 6 states in thesoutheast region, Mobile is the largest user of thissystem. In an effort of keeping the integrity andaccountability of the key, the fire preven5on team ismaking a push for the new key reten5on system. EachpersonhastobeheldresponsibleandaccountableforhisorherissuedKnoxBoxkey.

PyrotechnicSafety

The Office of Fire Preven5on oversees and evaluates all of the city’sfireworksdemonstra5ons.Duringthistransi5oneachandeverytechnicianhastobeveiedandabackgroundcheckhastobedone.Theirlicensehastobecheckedbythelocalpoliceandatthestatelevel. ThismustbedoneateachBayBear’sstadiumfireworksshow,NewYears,allholidaysandanylegalfireworksperformanceintheCityofMobile.Thefireworkssitehastobeevaluatedandapproved. Thenightoftheshow,thefireworksplabormor stagehas to be inspected aswell for stability and tomake sure this isdoneinasafemanner.


FreedomofInforma7onActRequest

TheFreedomof Informa5onAct isa requirementweare legallyboundtomeet and your CRR teammakes every effort to be transparent with thecommunity in which we love and serve. The team manages all FOIArequests for theMobile Fire-RescueDepartment.Mobile FireDepartmentpersonnel receives FOIA requests for several reasons and from variousen55es: individuals,management, city officials, poten5al property buyersand other firms request Environmental Assessment/Fire Code Viola5ondiscovery for certain proper5es. Other miscellaneous requests are alsoreceived such as personal file informa5on, media requests, etc. We alsoreceiverequestfromcitylegalandotheragencies.Thisnecessaryaspectofopen government can be 5mes consuming and at 5me labor intensive.Timely processing of these requests, generally are five days or less. Alldocument requests must be inspected for sensi5ve informa5on prior torelease; thereforesomedocumentrequestsmustberedacted.Duetothesensi5venature,onlycertainemployeescanprocesstheserequests.Ahighlevelofdiscre5onisnecessaryandmustbemaintained.


VolunteerPreven7onProgramTheCRRteamhascreatedaVPPprogramforourbusinesscommunity.Theprogram is simply an acknowledgment of our businesses that have gonebeyond the call of duty in raising the bar in the fire preven5on climate.Anyone can submit the name of a business that they feel has set a highpaceof preven5vemeasures. Once submiied, theCRRpreven5on teammust convene and review this requestintotheVPP. Thestaff isonly tobesurethatbus iness has been faithfully commiiedto following the city’s adopted fire codesa n d m a k i n g a significanteffortinfirep r e v e n 5 o n . I f approved, the CRRstaffwill decided if the b u s i n e s s w i l l b ecategorized in a Gold, Silver or Bronze status. The Gold category isexcep5onal, the Silver category is good, and the Bronze is needsimprovements. The categories allow business owners that are notexcep5onal to have them a path of forward progress to aspire to in firepreven5on. Whichever category, thebusinesswill receivea cer5ficateofapprecia5on.Thecer5ficatewillsignifythecategoryofthebusiness. Withlimitedstaffing,thiscanbebeneficialandtheinspectorscantargetthetruepoten5al hazard and also help foster a rela5onship of inclusion with ourbusiness community. Again, this program is strictly voluntary and notrequired.

JuniorFireInspectorProgramThe Junior Fire Inspector Program is just anotherway of gemng the community involved andbringingaboutsafety inourhomes.Thejuniorfireinspectorcanbeofanyschoolageandaiendanyschool in theCityofMobile. The junior inspectorwill be given some basic guidelines on homeinspec5ng. Once they are familiar with theseguidelines, the junior inspectorwillbegivenan IDissuedbytheMFRD. Thejuniorinspectorcanfirstinspect their own home and then inspect theneighbor’s home. The key to this is not only toexpose our youth to the fire service but to alsobringaboutasafercommunity.


TheMobileFireRescueDepartmentconsistsofavastnumberofmul5-talentedsafetyspecialistsandprofessionals.Eachandeverymemberiscommiiedtoyoursafetyandwell-being.Despitethat,hazardsandriskareconstantlyevolvingandfindingwaystoexistinourdailylives.YourCRRteamandtheen5reMFRDarebothcommiiedinu5lizingeveryresourcethatwehaveavailable,tonotonlyreducebuttohopefullyeliminateeachandeveryincidentthatcouldpoten5allyputourcommunityatrisk.ProvidingtheCi5zensofMobilewithasaferworkingandlivingenvironmentiswhatwearealwaysstriving,endeavoringandlaboringtoaccomplish.Weareconstantlyseekingwaystoimprove,developandbecrea5veinmakingtheCityofMobileahazardfreeplacetolive,work,andplay.

AsAlways,YoursInProtec5onDwayne M. Penn Sr.


Documents

Mobile Fire Rescue Department · 2018-08-28 · Mobile Fire Rescue Department 2017-18 Community Risk Reduction Annual Report Dwayne M Penn Sr. District Chief - August 13, 2018 COMMUNITY