Protecting Your Facility with Fire Watch
Whether you’re a property manager or a small business owner, New York State has certain requirements for you to maintain safety in your building, facility, or campus during a fire emergency.
Even if there’s not an immediate risk of death or injury, fires can still cause harm by destroying property, spreading to adjoining buildings (which still may be occupied), or diverting fire department resources from other emergencies. Premium Investigations offers a fire watch service to keep you safe and following all required safety regulations.
What is a Fire Watch?
A fire watch is exactly what it sounds like: someone who patrols a building or facility for any signs of fire or smoke, and who helps people evacuate safely in the event of an emergency. Normally, a facility uses a fire detection and prevention system to monitor for fire or smoke. But even the most up-to-date systems need regular maintenance, and older systems can malfunction or accidentally go offline.
When either of those happen, fire watch personnel serve in place of an automated system. The majority of their responsibilities consist of regular patrols of your facility, much like a security guard. If they do find evidence of a fire, fire watch personnel direct people to exit the building safely, contact the fire department, and help prevent the spread of the fire as much as they safely can.
What’s Required?
In accordance with the most recent Fire Code of New York State, most buildings are required to have automatic sprinkler systems, fire-extinguishing systems, portable fire extinguishers, and/or fire detection and alarm systems, depending on the type of building and if any hazardous materials are present. If any of the automated systems are offline, for any reason, you are required to notify the local fire department and fire code official, and either evacuate the building or provide a fire watch for the entire time your system is offline.
For many facilities, temporary evacuation may not be possible, especially if you don’t know how long the system will be offline. A fire watch will provide monitoring at all hours, for as long as necessary, even for a brief maintenance period.
Construction sites are another location where fire safety is paramount, especially if flammable materials are present. Before a fire detection system is installed, a fire watch should be present to ensure the safety of the new construction and any workers who are present.
P.I.’s Fire Watch
Our fire watch service ensures the safety of both people and property throughout the period your fire detection system is offline. Our officers are trained for each facility or site individually so that they know all the risks and possible hazard areas that are specific to your site.
From your routine maintenance to an unplanned system outage, our officers are prepared to keep you safe. Reach out to us today to learn more about our fire watch services.