FireWatch

Section 2 - EMERGENCY OPERATIONS _ FIRE SUPPRESSION

PURPOSE:

To establish procedures for scheduling and conducting fire watches.

RESPONSIBILITY

This procedure applies to all personnel assigned to Fire Operations.

DEFINITIONS

Posting a Fire Watch – Assigning a MFRD engine company or unit to monitor for any signs of smoke or fire, and will require the use of a Thermal Imaging Camera (TIC).

PROCEDURE

• Posting a Fire Watch:
  • The Battalion Chief will be responsible to establish a fire watch plan and contact the Assistant Fire Chief for approval
  • A Fire Watch Plan will include at a minimum:
    • The Fire Marshal shall perform a walkthrough of the structure with a TIC and ensure there are no signs of smoke, heat or fire before leaving the scene.
    • A MFRD company or unit shall conduct the first Fire Watch one hour after the last unit has cleared the scene.
    • A MFRD company or unit shall conduct the second Fire Watch two hours after the previous Fire Watch company has cleared the scene.
  • Once the plan is approved, the Battalion Chief will contact the OCFRD Communications Center and provide them with the details of the plan.
  • The OCFRD Communications Center will dispatch units back to the scene as required by the plan.

• Conducting the Fire Watch
  • Crews returning to the scene for Fire Watch shall walk through the structure using a TIC to check for any signs of smoke, heat or fire. If access is not available, crews will walk around the structure, using a TIC to look for any signs of smoke, heat or fire.
  • Fire Watch crews will be documented in the unit tab narrative of the original NFIRS report.
  • The last MFRD company or unit to visit the scene will contact the Battalion Chief prior to leaving to brief them on the findings and obtain permission to end the fire watch.
  • Only the Battalion Chief with concurrence of the Assistant Fire Chief will have the authority to discontinue the Fire Watch.
    

Consideration:
Structure fires that involve a single occupancy in a multi-occupancy building may have a continuous fire watch to ensure the safety of the remaining occupants (i.e. An apartment fire that involves only one unit and the remaining units of the apartment building will be occupied).

The continuous fire watch will be conducted until the initiating Battalion Chief with concurrence of the Assistant Fire Chief discontinues the Fire Watch.