Mount Airy soon will be getting a full-time fire inspector, but funding the new position won’t require additional revenue above what the city Fire Department already is being allocated.
Fire Chief Zane Poindexter believes the addition will improve the level of service to the community, including a “huge boost” in customer service and providing for less wear and tear on fire engines along with adding needed manpower for emergencies.
He said Wednesday that the change involves new ground being broken by the Mount Airy Fire Department in terms of designating one individual to handle inspections at schools, restaurants, industries and other locations to ensure safety.
“The first one ever,” Poindexter said.
“We’ve had fire inspectors, but they’ve been firefighters, lieutenants and captains,” the chief said regarding how other department personnel have performed inspections along with their regular duties with engine companies.
The Mount Airy Board of Commissioners approved the creation of the position during a meeting last Thursday night.
“Our department and responsibilities continue to grow and with that the need to rethink certain aspects of our service delivery,” Poindexter stated in a three-page needs assessment that was presented to the commissioners making the case for the new job.
Its main responsibilities will include coordinating and maintaining various fire inspections and re-inspections for about 1,200 occupancies in the city limits, according to information from Poindexter.
Busy slate
In 2021, 426 company-level inspections were conducted which turned up 881 violations, according to an annual report for the Mount Airy Fire Department which also lists 101 re-inspections. Inspections are done in accordance with state code and insurance schedules, including every six months at all public and private educational facilities.
Places such as restaurants, churches and bars with “assembly occupancies” are inspected annually, with two-year inspections done at factory or industrial sites. Inspections of conventional businesses such as those on North Main Street or in strip malls occur every three years.
Among the listed benefits of the new fire inspector function are ensuring that the visits occur on schedule while also lessening the compliance window.
The public further will be aided by having only one person to deal with as opposed to arranging inspection schedules with different staff members for various properties someone might own around town.
Poindexter says the change will be easy on fire engines due to inspections being a large part of a platoon’s work load during a shift and the need to drive engines to the locations involved so firefighters can be ready to respond to any emergency.
“The fire inspector would be utilizing a much-smaller vehicle that costs a lot less to operate, would take a lot less fuel and have a significant decrease in the wear and tear of the larger fire engines which would help them last longer,” Poindexter noted in the needs assessment.
Aside from streamlining inspections, the new position will add manpower to fire-suppression ranks during the inspector’s 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule.
The job will come with the requirement that the inspector be certified to drive all pieces of fire apparatus within the department while on duty, such as deploying its ladder truck to a call if needed.
Addition by subtraction
The new position will cost $61,955 annually, according to a breakdown from the fire chief, including a starting pay of about $40,000 and a benefits package.
In explaining how it will be funded without additional revenue, Poindexter said this will be achieved by cutting three part-time jobs in the department for which funding already has been allotted but are vacant.
These include one part-time inspector and two part-time firefighter positions.
The Mount Airy Fire Department now has 41 full-time and part-time members, which will go to 38 with the cut.
Poindexter’s plan is to eventually have two full-time fire inspectors in the city, but for the present fiscal year only one was sought as a starting point.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
Be First to Comment