673d fire department offers guidance for correcting fire deficiencies

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Javier Alvarez
  • JBER Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  According to the National Fire Protection Association, 730 fires involving office equipment were reported from 2007 to 2011 in the United States. The Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson community is not immune to the dangers office equipment can present.

Members of the 673d Civil Engineer Squadron Fire Department offer fire-safety guidance to ensure work centers throughout Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson are free of fire hazards and deficiencies.

"A hazard will eventually start a fire," said Ford Brooks, 673d CES assistant chief of fire prevention. "A deficiency is something that should be in compliance - it may not start a fire, but it will impede someone trying to escape or contribute to the fire spreading."

When someone becomes a new facility manager, they are given a generalized checklist with things they should look for when they do their monthly facility inspections, Brooks said.

Some fire deficiencies and hazards observed by the JBER fire department include:

· Obstructions that block sprinkler systems or damage heat sensors which delay the detection and allow the spread of fires.

"Some people have a tendency to prop fire-doors open," Brooks said.  "[The] purpose of a fire-wall or fire-door is to keep fire from spreading throughout the facility."

· Storing items under stairs impedes occupants from escaping during an emergency, and can also become a burning hazard.

· Improper use of surge protectors and power strips is another common fire hazard they see. This includes connecting multiple power strips to each other.

"[Extension cords and surge protectors] are designed to protect sensitive electric equipment from surges," said Jon Burpee, 673d CES fire inspector. "A lot of the time, people will plug in items that pull more voltage than the surge protector can handle - like coffee pots, refrigerators and microwaves. [These items] should be plugged directly into the wall."


Just as important as preventing fires is knowing what to do in the event of a fire.

JBER FD offers the acronym ACTS, which lists the steps of what to do during a fire emergency.

· A - Alert occupants that there is an emergency. The fastest way to do that is to pull the handle of a pull-station.
· C - Call 911. Calling 911 from any phone connected to the wall will reach the JBER dispatcher. Calling from a cellphone will reach the downtown dispatcher. They will then transfer the call to the JBER dispatcher, which can take 30 seconds.
· T - Take action.  Attack the fire with a fire extinguisher if you feel comfortable and it's safe to do so. A good rule in determining whether you should fight the fire is if the fire is size of an office trashcan.
· S - Show firefighters the location of the fire and let them know what happened.

Don't assume others have called to report the emergency.

"We would rather get ten calls reporting a fire than no calls," Burpee said.

"Know the evacuation plan for your building and where the pull stations and emergency exits [are]," said Tech. Sgt. Timothy Horton, 673d CES NCOIC of fire prevention. "Get with the facility manager to know how to properly evacuate."

"We are a customer-service organization, and we are here to provide a service to the installation, to reduce fires and fire hazards on the base so we can accomplish our mission," Brooks said.

For more information, visit the JBER fire prevention Facebook page at www.facebook.com/JBERFireprevention, or call 384-5555.