FIRE LOSS MANAGEMENT
FIRE PROTECTION
Part 21: THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
There is no national fire protection policy or program, but the federal government is involved in fire protection in many ways. The government is or should be concerned with the fire protection of its own property. Unfortunately, in the past this concern sometimes resulted in efforts to use the federal “Sovereign Immunity” to avoid local codes.
I was on a committee of federal employees and others organized under the National Research Council to develop a building code for federal construction. We were to examine the model codes and in each classification adopt the least restrictive requirements.
However, a sudden change occurred in the early 1970s resulting from a fire in the Cleveland Federal Building while it was under construction. A rubbish fire on the ninth floor involved PVC connectors in the airconditioning system, and stack effect carried the fumes to the 31st floor. Workers fleeing down the stairway were in so much distress that they broke out windows on the 25th floor. There was an uproar among federal employees assigned to move into the building.
A conference was later held in Warrenton, Virginia. The objective was to change the federal government’s practice of building some of the poorest buildings in the country to becoming a leader in high-rise fire safety. The objective was accomplished.
MUTUAL AID
At many locations, particularly military installations, the federal government maintains fire departments. The Department of Defense operates hundreds of fire departments and employs thousands of firefighters. In some cases these are first response units that depend on mutual aid from nearby municipalities. In other cases the military fire department is the first responder to local communities and a strong source of mutual aid.
In 1945 the fire department of the Naval Base at Norfolk, Virginia, in accordance with our mutual-aid plan, transferred two engine companies into vacant Norfolk City fire stations while Norfolk fought a multialarm fire. The only authority for our mutual-aid plans, which covered the entire Hampton Roads area, was a sentence in Navy regulations stating, “The captain of the yard may send the yard fire engine outside the yard to a fire which endangers the yard.”
The General Accounting Office was very upset when the payroll was audited. Navy firefighters in those days were not paid for sleeping time but were paid overtime for responses. The GAO claimed that the insignificant dollar outlay “did not benefit the Navy” and should be paid back. The GAO kindly agreed to take no action because the Department of Defense was preparing to seek appropriate legislative authority. The result was Public I.aw 84-46, which set forth the legal basis for government agencies entering into mutual-aid agreements. Very formidable-looking legal documents were produced by Navy lawyers.
One such document was presented to the fire commissioner of New York City with respect to the New’ York Naval Shipyard. It looked like a contract guaranteeing a certain level of response. His reply was blunt, “We won’t sign that. If you have a fire, do what you have done for almost a century —pull the box, and we will respond.”
WHO PAYS?
For many years the federal government maintained that it had no obligation to pay the local community for fire protection. While no regular payment could he made to the fire district in which the facility was located, payment for out-of-pocket costs could be made to responding outside fire departments.
In 1973 the Military Records Center near St. Louis, Missouri suffered a severe, drawn-out fire. The federal government paid the S25,000 water bill but refused claims from fire departments. The state of Missouri considered passing a law allowing local fire districts to refuse service to federal installations unless provisions were made for compensation. This resulted in the federal legislation providing for reimbursement of fire departments under certain circumstances. The law was assigned to the U.S. Fire Administration to implement, and very detailed regulations were established for reimbursement. Any fire department that incurs substantial out-of-pocket costs in fighting a fire in a U.S. government installation outside its fire district should look into the possibility of reimbursement. The U.S. Army now pays some municipal departments for fire service as well.
WORKING WITH THE MILITARY
Fire protection recommendations often are resisted. It is not enough to be technically correct. Cause and effect are so far separated in fire protection situations that almost any recommendation can be opposed with what appears to be a sound argument. It is useful to understand the mindset of your opponent.
Occasionally firefighters may have to deal with military personnel, either as subordinates or as a provider of assistance. In dealing with the military, it is important to remember that a military career differs from civil life in one very significant but often unrecognized aspect. In civil life a person can foul up badly —even criminally—and “cover his tracks.” For example, a doctor whose license is revoked in one state can go to another state and practice. But a military officer’s complete detailed record follows him from day one until retirement. A single mistake can ruin an otherwise exemplary career.
Therefore, an effective strategy is to point out how the potential disaster can reflect on the service record of the officer. Always keep a written record of all communication. After a meeting, write a letter confirming all verbal understandings.
GOVERNMENT FUNCTIONS AND AGENCIES
Legislation. In September President Bush signed into law FI.R. 94, the Hotel and Motel Fire Safety Act, which prohibits federally funded conferences from being held at unsprinklered hotels. The law exempts hotels three stories high or less but still mandates that they have smoke detectors to receive federal business.
OSHA The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has jurisdiction over accidents to employees in the workplace. If the state has a similar organization, then that organization enforces the law. Recently the state of Washington Department of Labor fined the Seattle Fire Department SI02,400 in connection with the death of a fire officer during a fire in a vacant building scheduled for demolition. The state charged that:
- Fire department commanders “failed to initiate a prompt search and rescue” for the fire officer who died and his companion who escaped with serious injuries.
- Fire department commanders failed “to use appropriate safeguards necessary to protect the lives and safety” of firefighters.
The fine on each of these charges was S50,000. An additional S2,400 was levied for failure to provide proper SCBA training. The fire department is appealing the fines. The chief particularly objected to the state’s use of the word “willful” in the charges. The term “willful” was used because of the fact that a firefighter was lost two years ago under what the state felt were similar circumstances.
Entering a fire building is a hazardous occupation. Personnel must be accounted for, even if this means “less efificient” firefighting.
Forest fire protection. The Department of the Interior operates all national parks through the National Park Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture operates all national forests through the Forest Service. Training, coordinating, and managing all wildfire suppression in the U.S. is the responsibility of the Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, which is operated by the Bureau of Land Management of the Department of the Interior.
Department of Commerce. The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) was formerly the National Bureau of Standards (NBS). The Center for Fire Research does basic and applied research in fire safety. In recent years the center has been a target for elimination because it was thought that private industry could do the work. The fire community rallied and Congress restored the funds. President Reagan opposed this and lobbied unsuccessfully for a presidential line item veto “to keep costs under control.”
Department of Housing and Urban Development. This department sets safety standards for all HUDinsured loans, mobile homes, and healthcare facilities. For example, in the rush to provide housing for the returning war veterans, houses often were constructed with small bedrooms with high windows to permit the placing of furniture below. These windows were not adequate emergency exits.
Apprised of the problem, HUD developed standards requiring that bedroom windows be no more than a certain distance above the floor to be useful as exits.
We will continue the discussion of the federal government’s role in fire protection in the next issue
