Chesapeake Fire Department Policy on Deputy Fire Marshal Notifications PDF

Policy 416 Chesapeake Fire Department Policy Manual Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2023/03/29, All Rights Reserved.Published with permission by Chesapeake Fire Department Notification of Deputy Fire Marshal - 1 Notification of Deputy Fire Marshal 416.1 PURPOSE This policy will establish and outline pr...

Policy 416 Chesapeake Fire Department Policy Manual Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2023/03/29, All Rights Reserved.Published with permission by Chesapeake Fire Department Notification of Deputy Fire Marshal - 1 Notification of Deputy Fire Marshal 416.1 PURPOSE This policy will establish and outline procedures/guidelines for Field Forces notification to and/or request for a Deputy Fire Marshal response. 416.2 POLICY The Incident Commander (IC) is responsible for determining the origin and cause of all fire incidents in the City. If assistance is needed or one of the required notification conditions exist, Fire Prevention will respond an on-call Fire Marshal. Origin and cause determination should begin as early as possible during an incident to increase the likelihood of a successful investigation and to minimize the destruction of evidence. If you think a Deputy Fire Marshal will be needed, call early in the incident and take necessary measures to protect the area/room of origin. 416.3 PROCEDURES Notifications to and/or request for a Deputy Fire Marshal response shall be made before leaving the scene of an incident. The exception to this would be low-priority notifications such as those listed under Section IV in which an email to the FD-FirePrevention email group is sufficient. I. The Emergency Communications Center (ECC) will use the following procedure when notifying the on-call Deputy Fire Marshal. (a) Send an Everbridge page to the on-call Deputy Fire Marshal via the Everbridge Client. The message should include the information listed in the established template. (b) The Everbridge Client will cycle through the listed contacts in order of priority. (Everbridge App, text work cell, text personal cell, call work phone) Each contact is separated by 3 minutes, the cycle will repeat 1 time. (c) If the on-call Deputy Fire Marshal has not responded after the first cycle, Dispatch should contact Marshal 1 by text or phone. (d) If the Everbridge Client is inoperable then contact should be made by phone using the primary and then secondary number. II. A Deputy Fire Marshal must be notified and at their discretion respond to the following incidents: (a) Vehicle fire, if the cause is undetermined but the occupant’s story is consistent with the fire departments findings, such as recent mechanical work, history of vehicle problems, or relevant events (i.e. driving down interstate, overheating). The totality of the circumstance is considered here when determining the need for response. (b) Any fire with a large monetary loss (greater than 25% of the property’s value) (c) Any commercial structure damaged by fire (d) Any fire that activates an automatic fire suppression system Chesapeake Fire Department Policy Manual Notification of Deputy Fire Marshal Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2023/03/29, All Rights Reserved.Published with permission by Chesapeake Fire Department Notification of Deputy Fire Marshal - 2 (e) Any undetermined fire (f) Any incident that results in personal injury involving a thermal burn (g) Any incident requiring the response of the Hazardous Materials Team (Exception: routine responses such as indoor gas leaks or atmospheric monitoring) (h) Any incident involving environmental crimes (i) Any incident involving a malicious false call where follow-up information may lead to suspects or a responsible party (j) Any incident involving life safety Fire Code violations (i.e. locked exit doors, fire suppression system tampering, etc.) (k) Any incident involving illegal burning for land clearing with no permit, the burning of insulation off of wire, or controlled burning that escapes and requires fire department response to extinguish (l) Any question regarding Fire Code violations that cannot be answered by the Incident Commander or Company Officer (m) Before requesting assistance from another agency outside of routine mutual- aid responses (i.e. Building Inspector, Health Department, State Police, Coast Guard) (n) Any fire incident that involves watercraft or aircraft (o) Any incidents where it is suspected a juvenile may have been responsible for setting or causing a fire (p) Any time a Chesapeake Public School is placed on Fire Watch (q) Any fire, regardless of severity, involving a place of worship III. A Deputy Fire Marshal must respond to the following types of incident: (a) Apparent or questionable arson or incendiary fires (b) Vehicle fires that are incendiary or undetermined without reasonable explanation (c) Fire incidents resulting in two (2) or more minor injuries to civilians and/or responders (d) Any fire fatality or serious injury, including vehicle accidents where the victim was burned by fire (e) Any threat to burn or bomb (f) Any incidents involving an explosion or explosive devices whether detonated or not IV. Notifications for the following incidents can be made via email when there are no complicating factors and the incidents can be followed up on during normal working hours. Use the FD-FirePrevention email group. (a) Small grass or brush fires with no suspects and no repeat incidents. Chesapeake Fire Department Policy Manual Notification of Deputy Fire Marshal Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2023/03/29, All Rights Reserved.Published with permission by Chesapeake Fire Department Notification of Deputy Fire Marshal - 3 (b) Any incident involving three (3) or more fire alarm malfunctions within a 24-hour time frame in the same fire alarm system of a commercial property (c) Alarm malfunctions when a Fire Watch was required and the occupant has complied with the order and a written notice was issued. (d) Dumpster / trash fires with no suspects and no repeat incidents.