Fire Chief

By Daniel B.C. Gardiner



With the downturn of the economy, cities and towns are being forced to reduce staffing on arguably already-understaffed fire companies. While the number of fires has fallen nationwide, fire department activity has increased. And facing a hostile fire with inadequate resources is a recipe for disaster — both for the occupants in danger and for the responding firefighters tasked with mitigation. As politicians struggle to balance their budgets, career fire departments may no longer be able to provide a level of safety that the public expects.

It is time to act! The public must be told that fire departments may not be able to save their lives and their property in the event of a fire. It is as simple as that. The public deserves to know, and rank-and-file firefighters should be shouting from the rooftops.

Along with this message, fire department must emphasize that without smoke alarms in their homes, homeowners’ chances of surviving a hostile fire are minimal. Smoke alarms provide the earliest warning of danger, allowing the occupants a greater chance of escaping the life danger. These same homeowners must be told that without a monitored fire alarm system, an unoccupied house could burn down to the foundations before the fire department is notified. And finally, homeowners should be told the benefits of an automatic fire sprinkler systems, which provide protection regardless of the economic climate.

Business owners deserve to be notified of the potential loss of livelihood if they don’t take protective measures. A monitored fire alarm system is the minimum they should have to protect their investment, place of business, and future earnings. Here, too, is the necessity of sounding the alarm about the need for automatic fire sprinklers to protect their building 24/7 without concern for the economic climate.

Perfect examples occurred in Fairfield, Conn., earlier this summer. First, local fish market was destroyed, and the employees were subsequently moved to the unemployment ranks. The fire was discovered by a police officer driving by during the very early morning hours. The police officer noticed flames coming out of the roof. The business had no fire sprinklers and no monitored fire alarm.

Then, less then two weeks later, a passerby alerted a sleeping family that their home was on fire. Again, the passerby noticed flames and smoke coming from the building. While Fairfield has a smoke-alarm ordinance for all residences, this house had none. Without the passerby, this family could have paid with their lives. And in the second week of August, two occupants died in a Stratford, Conn., home, where the upstairs smoke alarm had been disabled.

In the cited cases, the fire department was not given the opportunity to handle these fires before they became major destructive events, not because there was insufficient staffing but because there was no early warning, notification, or automatic suppression (fire sprinklers).

Video depicting the dangers of firefighting do nothing inform and educate the citizens on how to protect themselves. Information on automatic detection and protection does.

The late Dr. Anne Wright Phillips, a member of the original National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control, wrote in her minority report, “Tremendous credit should be given to the fire service for its ready acceptance of the concept that firemen should serve primarily as fire preventers, rather than firefighters. They will need help in changing to this new position.”

One can argue whether this approach to the fire problem ever occurred. It is obvious that many firefighters haven’t adjusted to their role as fire preventers. Many new firefighters have been indoctrinated with past ideologies and spend their time just being firefighters.

It is time to sound the alarm. The public deserves to know that they must take steps to help themselves, because the fire department may not be able to get there in time with the necessary resources to fight their fire. Citizens must help themselves; the fire department is the last line of defense, not the first, and it is the vast number of rank-and-file firefighters are the most equipped to present this message.

Daniel B.C. Gardiner is the retired fire chief of the Fairfield (Conn.) Department of Fire-Rescue Services. He holds a bachelor’s degree in fire-science technology and master’s degrees in public administration and fire science. Gardiner speaks nationally on firefighter safety, fire department operations, fire-service finance, training, and futuristic fire suppression and fire protection issues. He is a member of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) technical committees on Recommended Practices in Emergency Service Organization Risk Management (NFPA 1250), and Developing Fire Protection Services for the Public (NFPA 1201).