The Round Table
At the 3rd Annual Conference of the National Fire Prevention and Control Administration some speakers stressed the fire prevention benefits that could be derived from strong code enforcement and arson suppression programs.
Accordingly, do you feel now that your division of fire prevention and your arson squad if any, are sufficient for the job on hand?
What percentage of your total fire department budget is allotted to fire prevention activities, including fire prevention education and arson investigation?
David R. Rainey, Deputy Chief, Halton City, Tx.: I do not feel that the fire prevention division in this department is adequate to properly handle the job at this time.
At present, 1/10 of 1 percent of the total budget is allotted for fire prevention education excluding salaries.
Robert W. Westfall, Inspector, Beckley, W. Va.: Our division of fire prevention and arson squad are quite sufficient to meet our needs. Eight percent of the total fire department budget is allotted to fire prevention and arson investigation.
Richard L. Lacey, Chief, Lawrence, MA.: Both our arson squad and fire prevention bureau are providing excellent service to the city of Lawrence, with the limited manpower available for the two areas. There is never enough manpower, however, the tasks are performed effectively.
The number of arrests and convictions has been impressive, and I believe that the arson squad has been a deterent to many more arson fires which would have occurred had it not been for the arson squad. The arson squad is on the scene, many times, before the fire is extinguished.
The arson squad uses approximately 5 percent of the budget, the fire prevention bureau, approximately 1 percent. If federal funds were available for the above purposes, I am sure that we would be able to provide additional manpower for both divisions with more effective results. Manpower is the name of the game and is the secret of success in these fields.
T.L. Powell, Chief, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada: The Fredericton fire department has experienced a rapid growth rate over the last two years, going from one inspector in 1975 to the 1977 establishment of one captain and three inspectors. The arson squad consists of one police sergeant and the captain of fire prevention. This squad is adequate for a city of our size and operates as needed.
The total budget for the division is approximately $600,000 including salaries and benefits.
Ernest Ledbetter, Chief, Okmulgee, Okla.: Right now our arson program is capable of handling the problem, but with the rising growth of the city, we will be in trouble in a few years.
Only 1 percent of my budget is used for fire prevention and arson investigation.
Horace I. Koepke, Chief, Albany, Calif.: I do not feel that our division of fire prevention and arson squad are capable of handling the job on hand. We need more men.
Approximately 34 percent of our fire department budget is allotted for fire prevention activities and arson investigations.
James P. Norlem, Fire Marshal, N. Platte, Nebr.: I do not feel that our division of fire prevention and arson squad are sufficient enough to meet the needs of our city.
Of the total fire department budget, only 4 percent is allotted to fire prevention activities, and arson investigations.
A.F. Barrowclough, Chief, Parmington, N.M.: It is my opinion that our division of fire prevention and arson squad are not able to handle the job on hand. The reason is that we have a shortage of manpower.
Twenty-one percent of the total fire department budget is allotted to fire prevention activities and arson investigations.
Odell Benton, Chief, Portsmouth, Va.: Six personnel and one secretary are assigned to fire prevention. These six are sworn, duly appointed fire marshals of the city and under city charter (since 1-1-70) have the same powers as a sheriff at common law. Although much improvement has resulted, six personnel are inadequate.
Under a Planned Program Budget (PPB) structure, the estimated program cost of fire and disaster prevention is $272,629 (which includes 9 percent of salaries of 208 personnel assigned to fire fighting duties for their onduty building inspection functions) and $45,538 as the estimated program cost of investigative support services (which is the function of the fire marshal).
Robert J. Fisher, Chief, Midland, Mich.: At this time, our city does not have a fire code. We have one fire marshal in the fire prevention division. He is backed by incompany fire inspectors who provide inspections and report any major hazards to the fire marshal.
Three percent of the total fire budget is allotted for fire prevention.
Paul J. Wesson, Battalion Chief, Tucson, Ariz.: Currently, we use the fire investigative-police arson investigator team approach to investigate arson cases. This method works quite well and has produced some impressive figures in the area of conviction percentage rates; however, statistics show that approximately 46 percent of all our fires are caused by arsonists. Due to a lack of manpower, we are only able to investigate the most outstanding cases and those that appear to be the most provable. This amounts to approximately 2 percent of all arson fires and an average of five arrests per month.
It is our belief, that arrests and convictions are a deterrent to the commission of arson. We use two-man teams to investigate the major cases and all other such as trash and dumpster fires usually committed by juvenile and deranged persons are handled by (police) juvenile authorities or not at all.
We believe that with additional trained personnel (two more teams) we would be able to investigate many more of the less time consuming and less significant fires and increase the number of arrests. Our greatest need is funding for the training of additional personnel, as well as present personnel.
We are in the process of developing an arson awareness program in which we hope to get the community more involved in witnessing and reporting arson information. This would be done through the advertising campaign solicitation method and by setting up a rewards program. Some money would be used for the purchase of sophisticated investigative tools; i.e., psychological stress evaluator and a portable gas chromatograph to be used on the scene and in evidence analysis. The overall cost of this would be difficult to estimate, but an additional 3 percent of the overall fire department budget would probably cover it.
Approximately 6.3 percent of our total department budget is allotted to fire prevention activities and arson investigations.
