March 30, 2009 - SFD is Combating Recent Rash of Apartment Fires

One-half of the apartment fires this year stemmed from cooking related activities

Today, Shreveport Fire Chief Brian A. Crawford called for an immediate plan of action to combat the recent rash of apartment fires, which have plagued our city during the first three months of 2009. “The Fire Department is aggressively pursuing every avenue to prevent fires in our community,” Crawford said. “I want the citizens of Shreveport to know that this Fire Administration and every member of this department is working in the forefront and behind the scenes to implement measures that give them a greater chance to prevent careless fires.”
Chief Crawford has ordered the Shreveport Fire Prevention Division to draft a resolution which would require all apartment building owners to install an inexpensive, yet highly effective Stove-hood Chemical Extinguishing System above all apartment stovetops. This product can extinguish cooking related fires in its early stages and substantially reduce property loss. According to statistics released from the department, nearly one-half of the apartment fires this year stemmed from cooking related activities. Crawford plans to present the resolution to Mayor Glover and the Shreveport City Council seeking full support from the city administration by voting this resolution into a law.

Mandatory installation of stove hood chemical extinguishing systems. These systems are easily installed to existing stove hoods and emit an extinguishing agent when a certain temperature is reached on the stove. More information at: http://www.louisvillefireprotection.com/stovetop.htm. A pair of canned devices that attach magnetically over stove top and dispense sodium bicarb. Cost is $49.
 
In addition to this resolution, Crawford has communicated with the State Fire Marshall seeking to draft statewide legislation that would provide tax breaks to apartment owners who install residential sprinklers in their apartment buildings. According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) in its 2005 fire survey, an apartment fire starts every 6 minutes and causes at least $1 billion dollars in property damage each year.
Listed below are the Shreveport Fire Department’s apartment fire statistics since 2007. This includes year-to-date 2009 figures.

● 2007-- 64 apartment fires
● 2008--68 apartment fires
● Year-to-date (through March 26) -- 23 apartment fires
● 2009--Nearly one-half of the apartment fires were determined cooking related activities
● 2009--The remaining fires are evenly divided between incendiary, electrical, careless smoking, candles and workmen related activities

The Fire Department’s Fire Prevention Education Professionals have taken steps to education the public and apartment managers about fire safety. Since January 2009, this division has trained 33 of 112 city apartment managers on how to recognize and eliminate fire hazards in their respective apartment buildings, and more meetings are scheduled this year. “It is our goal to meet with every apartment manager by the end of the year. Our team of investigators and public education professionals are working tirelessly to meet this goal,” according to Fire Prevention Chief David Glass. Besides meeting with individual managers in Shreveport, each manager will be provided an ‘Apartment Fire Safety Checklist’ and an ‘Apartment Fire Prevention Handbook’ which notifies occupants of the requirements established in NFPA 1, adopted by the City of Shreveport.
Crawford also stated that if fire safety efforts are to be practical and successful it will require community involvement. Therefore, the following recommendations for accountability and responsibility are suggested for our community:
Things that property managers do to reduce fires, fire related injuries and deaths.

● Post the fire safety plan on the inside of every apartment door
● Post the fire safety plan in a conspicuous space in common area
● Distribute a copy of the fire safety plan to each dwelling unit in the building
● Provide a copy to new tenants at the time of the lease
● Re-distribute the plan annually during Shreveport’s Annual Fire Prevention Week activities
● Install stove top shut off devices which are designed to shut-off at 600 degrees and eliminate the danger of fire
● Install Stove hood chemical extinguishing systems above all stovetops

Things the tenants do to protect themselves and their property from fire loss.

● Be sure there is a working smoke alarm in your unit and test it frequently
● Know the location of manual pull fire alarms
● Purchase Renters Insurance
● Keep stairways free of obstruction
● Plan your escape, have at least two ways out of each room
● Practice fire safety as though your life depends on it