City of Brawley

FIRE WATCH

City of Brawley Fire Department

 The City of Brawley Fire Department may require a building owner to provide a fire watch if a fire protection system fails, if there are an excessive number of accidental activations, nuisance alarms, or a special circumstance or event occurs. Personnel to conduct the fire watch are determined by the building owner. A professional security company is not required.

FIRE WATCH DEFINITION

The assignment of a person or persons to an area for the express purpose of notifying the fire department and the building occupants of an emergency, preventing a fire from occurring, extinguishing small fires, or protecting the public from fire or life safety dangers. OWNER RESPONSIBILITIES

• Establish, instruct, and maintain fire watch personnel.

• Notify the fire alarm monitoring company.

• Notify Hanford Fire Dept. that the system is not working and again when the system has been repaired.

• Contact the repair company to the fix the fire protection system. FIRE WATCH

PERSONNEL RESPONSIBILITIES

• Conduct periodic patrols of the entire facility as specified.

• Identify any fire, life, or property hazards.

• Notify Hanford Fire Dept if a fire is discovered by calling 9-1-1 with the exact address and type of emergency.

• If occupied, notify occupants of the facility of the need to evacuate. If the sirens for public address function of the alarm system are still working, use them to assist with the evacuation.

• Have at least one means of direct contact with Hanford Fire Dept. A cellular device or radio is acceptable. • Maintain a log of fire watch activities.

• Have knowledge of the location and use of fire protection equipment, such as fire extinguishers. Note: The fire watch will not perform firefighting duties beyond the scope of the ordinary citizen.

 FREQUENCY OF INSPECTIONS

Fire watch personnel should patrol the entire facility every 15 minutes in the following situations:

• The facility has people sleeping.

• The facility is an institutional occupancy.

• The facility is occupied assembly occupancy.

• Facilities that do not meet the requirements for a 15-minute patrol frequency should have a fire watch patrol every 60 minutes.

RECORD KEEPING

A fire watch log must be maintained at the facility. The log must be available at all times during the fire watch. The log should show the following:

• Address of the facility.

• Times that the patrol has completed each tour of the facility.

• Name of the person conducting the fire watch.

• Comment of conditions found. If any.

 CANCELATION OF THE FIRE WATCH

 It is the owner's responsibility to cancel the fire watch once the fire protection system has been fully restored or after the end of the special circumstance or event.

Once the fire watch has been cancelled, the owner or representative must notify the monitoring company and the Brawley Fire Dept @ 760-351-9110

To request this brochure in an alternative format, please call 760-351-9110. The City of Brawley prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in programs, services and or activities.