ASK YOUR FIRE DEPARTMENT...

“As a firefighter I am often asked why firefighters do the things we do; so I’ve decided to write a column in The Banner designed to explain the inner workings of our Bonita Springs Fire Rescue Department and the different services we offer to the citizens of Bonita Springs.”

“With this in mind, if you have a specific question you want answered please access the link: “Ask Your Fire Department” on the Bonita Springs Fire Control and Rescue District’s official web site at www.bonitafire.org and I will answer all questions online and may include your questions in future columns. Visit the web site often, all the questions and answers will be archived there as well as a plethora of valuable information concerning the BSFD.”

Frank Giuliano, Battalion Chief

Bonita Springs Fire Control and Rescue District 

Local Fire Department Ratings Can Affect Your Homeowner’s Insurance

by Frank Giuliano, Battalion Chief, Bonita Springs Fire Rescue

I would like to thank everyone who wrote in via the ‘Ask Your Fire Department’ web site.  

I would like to take this opportunity to explain a few regulations that govern the fire service and may explain why we do some of the things we do. 

The National Fire Protection Association

The NFPA was formed in 1896 by a group of insurance firm representatives with the stated purpose of standardizing the new and burgeoning market of fire sprinkler systems.  Eventually, the scope of the NFPA's influence grew from sprinklers to include all aspects of building design and construction.  Headquartered in Massachusetts, the NFPA oversees the development and maintenance of more than 300 codes and standards. A cadre of over 6,000 volunteers representing the fire service, insurance, business, industry, government, and consumers develops these documents. Many state, local, and national governments incorporate the standards and codes developed by the association into their own law either verbatim, or with only minor modifications. Even when not written into law, the codes are typically accepted as a professional standard by which fire departments are measured; as well the standards are recognized by many courts as such.

The Bonita Springs Fire Control and Rescue District attempts to comply with as many as possible based upon the scope, complexity and financial considerations of these industry standards and uses them as a guide in every aspect of our operation.

The Insurance Service Office, or ISO

This brings us to another organization that affects our operation and you, the homeowner’s, pocketbook; the ISO, or Insurance Services Office.  ISO grades each community’s fire service on its ability to fight fires, using the NFPA professional standards and others, and assigns a rating. A rating of one is the highest grade with 10 being the lowest, which represents less than the minimum recognized protection. The grading is based on a Fire Suppression Rating Schedule (FSRS), which was developed by ISO years ago and now is widely recognized throughout the country.  The FSRS is essentially a survey that assesses the available public firefighting facilities. The basic components of the survey are communications, water supply, and equipment, including type of engines and ladder companies, training, fire station location, and manpower at the fire department. The FSRS covers features that determine a community’s ability to control fire damage.

The Bonita Springs Fire Control and Rescue District

Bonita Springs’ Fire-Rescue services are ranked at Class four, in the urban areas and Class Nine in the very few areas not serviced with fire hydrants. The Class Four puts Bonita Springs FD among the top 10 percent of the over 33,000 communities with fire service in the United States in terms of ISO ratings, saving the average homeowner between 10 to 20% on their insurance rates over a Class Five.  By classifying a fire department’s ability to suppress fires, ISO helps the community evaluate its public fire protection services and helps to secure lower fire insurance premiums for homeowners and businesses.

To clarify, ISO, using the national standards set forth from the NFPA, determines for the insurance industry the amount of insurance premiums to collect from businesses and homeowners in a specific community, based on the local fire department’s ability to mitigate fire loss for that particular insurance company. The better the fire department the lower the insurance cost to the homeowner.  Additionally, Bonita Springs Fire Rescue will have to begin looking at standards that will be published by the Center for Public Safety Excellence as they relate to the Fire Service.

As always, the Bonita Springs Fire Control and Rescue District is open for inspection to you, our citizens, at any time you wish to come by. 

Please note: Remember to click the “check button” at the bottom of your question screen to allow your question to appear in BSFD’s section of The Banner. Also, you must click “SUBMIT” in order for your question to be sent.

I am the president of the Bermuda Links condo association here in Bonita Fairways. I have a question regarding our sprinkler alarm system and do not know who to contact. We have been told that our alarm panels require a yearly UL inspection in addition to all its other inspection requirements. I find this strange and when I called UL they knew nothing about it. What do you know about this requirement or do you know who I can call to find out.

PS. the current UL certification in the box says it expires in 2013.

Thanks for your help.

ANSWER

Ed

I can understand your frustration for not getting a clear answer regarding inspections of your building’s fire protection systems.  The type of residential building you and your neighbors live in have three separate or different types of built-in fire protection/detection systems.  Your three systems are fire sprinklers, a fire alarm system, and smoke alarms.   In order to answer your questions, I have provided a link to our web site that has additional information for each fire protection system with regards to inspection and testing frequency.  Inspections...

Fire Sprinklers

The fire sprinkler system in your building was designed in accordance with National Fire Protection Association Standard for fire sprinklers, and installation was inspected by the fire department during construction.  After the final acceptance test, the sprinkler system needs to be inspected and tested periodically.  The frequency of inspections can be monthly, quarterly, and annually in some cases.  Under Florida Law only a licensed Fire Protection Contractor I or II is able to perform inspections on fire sprinkler systems. 

Fire Alarm System

There are only two reasons why your building would have a fire alarm control panel (FACP).  If a building is three or more stories in height, or has more than 11 dwelling units, a fire alarm system is required.  This type of building would have a notification speaker(s) within each dwelling unit, and horn/strobes and manual pull stations on the exterior of the building.  The second reason for a fire alarm control panel is that it is required by the Florida Building Code.  The code requires fire sprinkler systems to be supervised electronically.  This means monitoring the integrity of control valves in the ON position, and flow switches for water flow.  In Lee County, all fire alarm control panels installed only for monitoring fire sprinkler systems are required to be “Central Station Service”.   The National Fire Alarm Code requires a Central Station Service to be either placarded or certificated by a listed testing laboratory; i.e. Factory Mutual, UL.  In your case, the installing fire alarm company used Underwriters Laboratories (UL) for the certificate on your FACP.  Also, under Florida Law only licensed Fire Alarm Contractors can inspect, test and or repair fire alarm systems.  The UL Certificate you mentioned for your building is good until the year 2013, and would not be a separate inspection required by code. The fire code does require your fire alarm system to be inspected and tested annually. 

Smoke Alarms

These are the single-station smoke alarms found throughout your home.  These smoke alarms are located in every sleeping room, and immediate vicinity of sleeping areas.  The smoke alarms are wired into the home’s electrical system, and include battery back-up in case of power outages.  The smoke alarms are interconnected to each other within your home, and all work together when one detects smoke.  The smoke alarms within your home are not connected to the building’s fire alarm system, so you need to dial 911 if there is a fire within your home.  The testing and maintenance for these smoke alarms are you and your neighbor’s responsibility.  As a rule, we recommend “Change your Clocks, Change your Batteries” to remind homeowners to change their smoke alarm batteries twice a year. 

Ed, thank you for your question, and I hope I was helpful to you.  If you have any more questions or need additional help with your fire alarm, sprinklers, inspections, or codes, please contact our Fire Prevention Division at 239-949-6212.