Fire Prevention History...

The program was understaffed and under-funded from the beginning. The goals of getting each existing business inspected on an annual basis and to provide the fire department with an avenue for review of the new construction were too large to be met by one person. This individual had to concentrate on the annual inspections and the fees generated to make the budget work. In so doing, the task of fee collection also became the responsibility of this person. This task was also a hopeless one. It soon became apparent that the business community was not receptive to the fee charges nor were they cooperative in paying them. The county prosecuting attorney refused to prosecute non-paying businesses, if their only infraction was the lack of fee payment. Small claims court became the only resort for fee collection. The fees charged and the efforts to collect them resulted in a very negative image being projected for the fire department and the subsequent time needed to handle the complaints and the collection efforts drained time away from the individual inspections.

In 1994, it became obvious that the program was not meeting the goals of getting every business inspected annually and also cover the workload of the new construction and site plans. This led to the hiring of two additional persons to do the annual inspections on the existing businesses and free up some of the original person's time for plan review and new construction. After the additional inspectors were up to speed, an assessment was to be made to determine if the goals were being reached. The position of Fire Marshal was established and the duties expanded for this position to include the supervision of the two inspectors and the investigation of fires in the county.

With this system up and running, an additional assessment was being made when it became apparent that the funding of the program, through the assessment of inspection fees, was not going to work. The bad relations and negative images that were being created by the fee structure contributed to the decision to fund the Fire Prevention Bureau from the divisional budgets, with the bulk of the money (85%) coming from Metro and the remainder (15%) coming from Rural. This formula was based on the amount of estimated businesses and inspection time devoted to each division. As the amount of time and businesses increased or changed, the ratio would be adjusted. Problems occurred when the subsequent budget years required an increase in the percentage contribution for the Rural division. The Rural division did not want any increase for the fire prevention business to be added to their budget, due to the misconception of the amount of time and inspections that they felt they were getting from the bureau. The misconception consisted of the thought that the Rural division was not getting their money's worth from the Fire Prevention Bureau, even though statistical information showed that approximately 40% of the Bureau's time was spent in the Rural division.

In 1999, the Metro board agreed to fund the Fire Prevention Bureau in its entirety (due in part to the reduction in incidents of fires and the lower suppression costs) and to offer a contract to the Rural division for inspections. This would allow the Bureau to function at its highest capabilities for the manpower involved. In the midst of this, one inspector decided to change to a new employer and a new inspector was hired. The new inspector needed to be trained, so production was slowed again.

Late in 1999, a decision was made by the Metro Board to meld the Fire Prevention Bureau into the Metro budget for the year 2000. The Metro Chief, Fire Marshal and one staff secretary would leave the employment of the County, join the two fire inspectors and be brought into the Metro payroll. Metro would become a stand-alone employer for the first time.

Keeping all of this history in mind, and taking into consideration all of the obstacles and growth pains, the results of the fire prevention program are impressive. There has been an approximate reduction in all fires totaling 76% since the program came on line. (This is a conservative figure based on an incomplete assessment of this year's incidents.)

What this means is that the program works!

To date, there have been approximately 1900 occupancies identified in the Metro area. The majority of these businesses (approx. 1400) are located within the boundaries of Garfield Township. Approximately 200 businesses are in Acme Township and slightly more than 300 are in East Bay Township.

As of 2005, the Fire Prevention Bureau is over-seen by Assistant Chief / Fire Marshal Brad Schnaidt. Under AC/FM Schnaidt supervision is a Plans Reviewer and 3 Fire Inspectors.