“COPE” WITH PREPLANNING
VOLUNTEERS CORNER
It’s time to go out and update the preplan information for the district. It has been a while since you looked at these same old buildings; nothing really seems to change in them, and there haven’t been any fires. So you think, No problem, I’ll just go out and wing it.
This is a typical thought pattern during preplan updates or building familiarization tours. All you learned in fire school about doing these surveys seems to be just a fading memory. Besides, you say, you’ve been a member of the department long enough to know what to look for.
Instead, try following the COPE method of preplanning: Construction, Occupancy, Protection, and Exposure. Insurance officials say that fire insurance underwriters use COPE when analyzing a property. Whether you enter a property for the umpteenth time or for the first time, COPE is a handy tool to jog your memory as to what you should be looking for.
Construction, if you are revisiting an existing property, simply means asking if there have been any changes in construction since the last visit—a new roof, new floors, or a new enclosure for some piece of process equipment. If it’s your first visit, check to see if the building has fire-resistive construction, noncombustible construction, or combustible construction.
Occupancy involves what exactly is going on at the property. Is it an oil refinery, an office building, a factory, or a hospital? Ask questions; become familiar with an occupancy. It can only help you if you are called back to extinguish a fire. Find out if there is anything special or unusual about an occupancy, such as PCB electrical equipment or asbestos fireproofing materials. Consult the workers at a plant—they are the experts on the plant’s processes and equipment. They may even ask your advice on some fire safety features.
Protection means what exactly is on site in terms of fire protectionfire hydrants and fire department connections outside, complete automatic sprinkler protection inside, and fire doors separating such major areas as warehouses from manufacturing sections. Check to see that all sprinkler systems, fire hydrants, and fire doors are in service and properly maintained.
If the operating condition of equipment is questionable, test it: Operate the fire hydrant, hook up adaptors to fire department connections and standpipes, perform a full drain test on a sprinkler system, or disconnect the fusible link to check fire door operation. Make sure portable fire extinguishers are inspected monthly and serviced annually.
If the property has a fire brigade or emergency response team, meet the members and review their training and activities. They will be fighting a fire before you arrive, so it is a good idea to establish a working relationship ahead of time.
Exposure applies to both internal and external exposures. Patients in a hospital will be exposed to smoke from a fire involving the combustible storage in the basement. A flammable liquids storage area or mixing room inside a manufacturing plant exposes the rest of the plant to a serious fire unless the flammable liquids are cut off by fire walls or actual space separation.
External exposures include an exposing fire and an exposed building. The actual site and protection features need to be inspected and updated. The old lumberyard may finally have closed down, so that exposure is gone. A warehouse storing glass milk bottles may now be used to store plastic milk bottles; it’s still next door to a school. The “temporary” twostory wooden construction sheds next to the patient wing of the hospital may have been abandoned long ago by the construction workers who finished the hospital addition, but they forgot to remove them. Review preplans and response procedures that address severe exposure potentials to ensure that the severity of the hazard is properly recognized at all times.
Preplanning is an ongoing system of maintaining the efficiency level of the fire service. It is a system of managing change by staying ahead of what is going on in the community as it affects fire protection. It involves training—having all personnel participate in the actual development of preplans through information gathering and actual plan assembly to ensure that all members are familiar with the plans. Finally, preplanning pays off when the action plans are put into effect as the companies go in service. Then you’ll be glad you were able to COPE with the preplan.
