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.

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