Hoffman Estates Fire Department Fire Prevention Guidelines 2022 PDF

HOFFMAN ESTATES FIRE DEPARTMENT STANDARD OPERATING GUIDELINES SOG Category & Identification Number: EFFECTIVE DATE: FIRE PREVENTION GUIDELINES– 002 January 1, 2022 NIMS COMPLIANT...

HOFFMAN ESTATES FIRE DEPARTMENT STANDARD OPERATING GUIDELINES SOG Category & Identification Number: EFFECTIVE DATE: FIRE PREVENTION GUIDELINES– 002 January 1, 2022 NIMS COMPLIANT SOG Title: Smoke Alarm Program Revision: 2 APPROVED BY: NUMBER OF PAGES: Re-evaluation Date: Alan Wax January 1, 2024 Fire Chief 9 PURPOSE The purpose of the program is to educate Hoffman Estates residents on the dangers of fire in the home and how to prevent fires from occurring in the home, as well as to ensure there are working smoke alarms properly installed in homes. By providing 10-year sealed battery smoke alarms, it ensures that the power source can’t be removed from the unit and, if properly maintained, will last the life of the device. The Hoffman Estates Fire Department seeks to 1) Educate residents, young and old, on smoke alarm maintenance, home fire safety and prevention methods, and fire escape planning, 2) Reduce the number of fire-related injuries and fire-related deaths, and 3) Identify the reason for non-working smoke alarms and to actively support within the community the proper installation, testing, and maintenance of residential smoke detectors. In July 1988, the State of Illinois passed legislation mandating the proper installation and maintenance of smoke detectors. DEFINITIONS POLICY The Fire Department provides smoke detectors that are for homeowners only and are required to be installed in resident homes, not apartments. No more than 2 smoke alarms should be installed in any one residence. As part of the program: 1. All front line fire engines will carry a toolbox equipped with a minimum of two smoke detectors, 10 Smoke Alarms & Your Safety! Trifolds (Attachment B), 10 Home Fire Safety Check Lists with Home Fire Escape Plan handouts (Attachment C), and the necessary tools for installation of smoke detectors. 2. Smoke alarm informational pamphlets, home fire safety checklists, and home fire escape plans must be provided to the home residents. 3. All fire stations shall have an inventory of 2 detectors (kept with the station officer), which can be given to residents or to replenish the toolbox inventory. At the conclusion of emergency responses within residential occupancies, the Company Officer should ask the occupant if smoke detectors are properly installed in the home and the officer should ask to 1 check them. If the Company Officer finds the dwelling does not have the appropriate number of detectors or if the detectors don't work properly, explain the State of Illinois Smoke Detector Law (see Attachment A) to the occupant. The Company Officer should offer the occupants a smoke detector(s) if needed and explain that the Fire Department offers free installation. If the occupancy does not meet the intent of the state law and the occupant decides not to accept a detector from the Fire Department, the occupant should be advised that the Fire Prevention Bureau will follow up in ten days to check for compliance. A Fire prevention complaint form must then be submitted to the Fire Prevention Bureau by the Company Officer. REQUIRED PAPERWORK Upon installation of alarms in homes and the education on fire safety to residents, the reporter will begin documenting the visit using the web-based Installation Survey Form. This link to the form will be located on all front line apparatus iPads. Complete all the required fields (Fire Department ID # is CN282) and take detailed notes to ensure that each visit has been successfully documented. FF Jonathon Drummer’s email address ([email protected]) shall be entered in the “Enter Your Email Address If You Would like an Electronic Copy of This Installation Survey Form for Your Records” so a record of the installation is kept with the Department. Be sure that an Installation Survey Form is submitted for each property where a smoke alarm installation has been conducted. TESTING OF SMOKE DETECTORS The only department approved method of testing smoke detectors for proper operation shall be to "push" the test button on the smoke detector. If the smoke detector activates, the detector is apparently in working condition. If the smoke detector does not activate, a new detector will be provided. If a direct-wired smoke detector does not work when tested, it is the Department recommendation that a licensed electrician be contacted as soon as possible to evaluate the system and/or replace the detector with a new one. Battery operated smoke detectors are not permitted to replace 110v detectors in home or residences constructed on or after January 1, 1988. If a smoke detector does not have a test button, it is the recommendation of the Department to replace the smoke detector with a new one, which has the capability of being tested. Occupants should be instructed on how to test the detector, how to install new batteries (if occupant does not have a 10-year sealed battery smoke detector currently), and the importance of keeping the detector free of dust and dirt. Occupants should be informed that battery operated smoke detectors will "chirp" when the battery voltage is weak. A new battery should be installed if this occurs. Also, it is the recommendation of the Department that residents test their smoke detectors at least monthly, if not more often, and a new battery be installed at least annually, if necessary. INSTALLATION OF SMOKE DETECTORS When smoke detectors are installed they should be installed in accordance with the State of Illinois 2 Smoke Detector Law (Attachment A). Care should be taken to ensure that no damage is done during the installation of the smoke detectors. Each smoke detector comes complete with a sealed battery, screws, and plastic screw anchors. With tools carried in toolboxes, smoke detectors should be easily installed. Smoke detectors should not be installed within 3 feet of windows, doors, vents, ceiling fans, or bathrooms, within 15 feet of cooking appliances, and in dead air spaces. These areas may increase "nuisance alarms" or may reduce the effectiveness of the detector. PROCEDURE 3 EXCEPTIONS 4 REFERENCES Illinois Fire Safety Alliance and the Illinois State Fire Marshal’s Be Alarmed! Smoke Alarm Installation Program Fire Department Guide DEFINITIONS ATTACHMENT A OVERVIEW OF THE SMOKE DETECTOR REQUIREMENTS On July 1, 1988 it became mandatory for all homes and apartments to have operating smoke detectors. These smoke detectors must be located within 15 feet of every room used for sleeping purposes and installed on the ceiling at least 6 inches from any wall or on a wall between 4 and 6 inches from the ceiling (Attachment B). Every single-family residence shall have at least one smoke detector installed on every story of the dwelling unit including basements but not including unoccupied attics. In dwelling units with split-levels, a smoke detector installed on the upper level shall suffice for the adjacent lower level if the lower level is less than one full story below the upper level. If there is a door between the adjacent levels, a smoke detector shall be installed on each level. The owner of the building is responsible to supply and install all required detectors. The owner shall be responsible for making reasonable efforts to test and maintain detectors in common stairwells and hallways. It is the tenant's responsibility to test and provide general maintenance for the detectors in their dwelling or rooming unit and to notify the owner or authorized agent in writing of any deficiencies, which the tenant cannot correct. The owner shall provide the tenant with written information regarding detector testing and maintenance. The tenant is responsible for replacing batteries in the detector in the tenant's dwelling unit, except that the owner shall ensure that the batteries are in operating condition at the time the tenant takes possession of dwelling unit. The tenant shall provide access to the dwelling unit by the owner or authorized agent to correct any deficiencies in the smoke detector, which have been reported in writing. The requirements of this law shall apply to any dwelling unit in existence on July 1, 1988 beginning on that date. The smoke detectors required may be either battery or wired into the structure's AC power line and do not need to be interconnected, except for those dwellings that are newly constructed, reconstructed or substantially remodeled after December 31, 1987 the following requirements shall apply on the first day of occupancy. The smoke detectors required in such dwellings shall be permanently wired into the structure's AC power line and if more than one detector is required, the detectors shall be interconnected so that the actuation of one detector will actuate all detectors. 5 Willful failure to install or maintain in operating condition any smoke detector required by law shall be a Class B misdemeanor. Tampering with, removing, destroying, disconnecting or removing the batteries from any installed detector except during inspection, maintenance or replacement of the detector shall be a Class A misdemeanor in the case of a first conviction. It will be a Class 4 felony in the case of a second or subsequent conviction. Attachment B (Side 1) 6 Attachment B (Side 2) 7 Attachment C (Side 1) Home Fire Safety Check List 8 Attachment C (Side 2) Home Fire Escape Plan End of Document 9