BY RAYMOND C. O’BROCKI III
On January 1, 2009, the Baltimore City (MD) Fire Department (BCFD) started a program that placed fire inspectors on shift work. The Fire Prevention Bureau would have 24/7 coverage for the first time in its more than 150-year history of the paid fire department. Many asked, why? What would be the benefit? How would they stay busy after midnight? Would it be a waste of resources? We started reaping the rewards of this experiment in a very short time. It gave the Baltimore City Fire Marshal’s Office flexibility and a responsiveness it never enjoyed before, and it actually saved money in the process.
WORK HOURS
All fire inspectors were not put on shift work; the program created a shift-work contingent. One fire inspector was added to one of each of the four shifts. The BCFD works two 10-hour days followed by two 14-hour nights, with four days off in between. The fire inspector was equipped with a Blackberry®, a mobile radio, and a car with lights and sirens. The inspectors would still work out of headquarters, but they had a bunk and a work area at our Fire Investigation Bureau Field Office housed in our Old Town Fire Station.
RATIONALE FOR A 24-HOUR PROGRAM
“Thinking down board” is a chess term that denotes the ability of a player to think several moves ahead. In the fire service, chief officers need to be able to anticipate future needs and plan for them accordingly. In the current financial crisis, fiscal ramifications accompany every move chief officers make. In short, we are being asked “to do more with less.” BCFD is no exception. My staff officers and I had to devise plans that would meet or exceed current levels of service with the same or a reduced budget. One of the plans we came up with was the 24/7 Inspector Program.
We needed a way to inspect special public assembly events (events that occur at Camden Yards, The Hippodrome Theater, and so on) at a minimum of cost—to perform nighttime inspections, nighttime fire drills for residential buildings, exit and occupant load inspections for bars and nightclubs, off-hour systems testing (fire pumps, alarms, and so on), and fire public education events on nights and weekends without having to pay overtime.
BENEFITS REALIZED
We quickly realized the financial benefits. In the first month alone, we invoiced venues for 142 hours of fire department service during special events for $6,390 and paid out only $1,485 in overtime. Prior to this program, the entire amount collected would have been paid back out in overtime; that is approximately a 77-percent decrease in overtime. The projection over the entire fiscal year was a 50-percent decrease in overtime with no decrease in revenue collected.
Also, in the past, we had to decline public education opportunities (or send supporession units) in the community during evenings and weekends because of overtime restrictions. The limitations of sending suppression units to do public education are, first, many firefighters are not comfortable with public speaking and are not properly trained to conduct effective public educations sessions; second, unless they are placed out of service, busy city units are constantly interrupted by service calls. If placed out of service, unit availability issues arise. We now can accept these offers. We found quickly that churches and places of worship were pleased with a program that permitted us to conduct our business with them on weekends. We have flexibility in conducting exit and occupant load inspections while they are open instead of in the morning while they are closed. Our inspectors will obtain a better understanding of the operations of the occupancies and of the hazards associated with them and ways in which they can ensure compliance with the applicable code requirements.
Owners of assembly occupancies that are open when code enforcement used to be off duty will understand that they now may be subject to inspection at any time they are open for business. This may be an added incentive to ensure they operate in compliance with the fire code. The message is clear: Violate the code at your own peril. Enforcement action at these occupancies grew exponentially the first quarter but have since leveled off, an indication that business owners are maintaining their occupancies in accordance with the code requirements.
Another benefit of the shift work is a synergy with fire suppression units that never existed before. Whenever fire companies come across complex fire code problems, they have a “real-time” resource available on shift. They can call an inspector or request the inspector to respond to any location to mitigate or abate any fire or building code violations they discover. Our fire investigators can now call on fire inspectors to respond on their fires and note any violations that exist at the fire incident. This results in a more thorough and complete fire investigation. Inspectors can accompany fire suppression units on their neighborhood sweeps and home visits to assist and give expert fire safety education.
DOWNTIME CONCERNS
One pressing issue was that the inspectors would have downtime between 2:00 a.m. and their relief at 7:00 a.m. Many worried that those five hours each night would be wasted time in their week. Besides being available to fire suppression companies for fire code issues, the shift fire investigators assist in their investigations and complaint investigations received from the public and conduct hotel fire inspections. If planned in advance, hotels welcome annual inspections in their least busy hours. Hotels are staffed 24 hours a day and have personnel available to accompany fire inspectors in the hours between 2 a.m. and 7 a.m.
“After hours” or “bottle” clubs that operate and are busiest after bars close have become a nuisance in many communities and are notorious for overcrowding and blocked exits. An inspector working after hours can monitor these occupancies closely. This downtime can also be used to catch up on filing and paperwork, research, studying, and sending e-mails. Our inspectors have had no problem filling their shifts. Accountability is maintained through daily and biweekly reports filed and scrutinized by our quality control officer. It is relatively easy to track the inspectors’ work—the number of inspections, permits issued, violations written, and so on.
RECRUITMENT AID
Another collateral benefit is in the recruitment of members to the Fire Prevention Bureau. There are many fine members of the fire department who desire to be trained to work in code enforcement but do not want to switch to a day work schedule. This program accommodates those who want to stay on shift work but want to be assigned in Fire Prevention.
Many small and mid-size departments like our department (1,850 members) may have never considered committing fire inspectors to shift work. When we committed to the idea, we realized that there would be challenges and obstacles in implementing the program. No change is ever without problems; we knew we would have to remain flexible. However, we were pleasantly surprised with the immediate positive results and the marked lack of obstacles. Part of this success was the result of good planning, but the bulk of the success is attributable to the strong commitment and solid work ethic of the members who carried it out.
In the first month alone, we invoiced venues for 142 hours of fire department service during special events for $6,390 and paid out only $1,485 in overtime.
RAYMOND C. O’BROCKI III is deputy chief/fire marshal of the Baltimore City (MD) Fire Department. He was appointed fire marshal in 2008 and serves on the State of Maryland Child Care Advisory Council and the State Fire Code Update Committee. He is a law student at the University of Baltimore School of Law.
