Fredericktown Community Fire District

Beginning on Monday, August 26, the Fredericktown Community Fire District will conduct testing of fire hydrants in the Village of Fredericktown.  If will take a couple months for us to conclude this first testing and document the information.  Over the next week, the following areas will be our focus of testing:

• High Street in the area of the old elementary
• Tuttle Avenue
• Trailer court
• Westgate Drive
• Hydrants along Ohio 13 south of Ohio 95
• Village Parkway
• Hydrants along Ohio 95 west of Ohio 13
• Hydrants around the Fredericktown K-12 building
• Levering Drive
• Salem Ave Extension

These flow tests, as recommended by the NFPA, differ from the hydrant flushing that the Village conducts throughout the year.  During the course of hydrant flushing by the Village, they open or close valves as a part of their process.  For flow tests to provide accurate data, the hydrant and water system is kept in its “normal” state of operation and would show what pressure and flow rate we should expect on any given day.  While it would be great to test the hydrants during the Village “flushing”, it is not possible at this point.

Firefighters will gather the flow data from the hydrants and utilize it to pre-determine what hydrants are best to access when responding to a fire related emergency. If mechanical issues are found, this information will be conveyed over to the Village.  All of this work assists with pre-incident planning that our department conducts to ensure we are adequately prepared before the emergency happens.

Fire department officials identified these tests as a priority to help with the district ISO (Insurance Service Office) score, which measures the fire prevention and suppression capabilities of the department.

Fredericktown residents should be advised, the testing of hydrants can cause some rust to appear in the water for a short amount of time.  While there are no health hazards associated with this, it is best to avoid washing white or light-colored clothing while testing is underway to avoid the possibility of stains.

The FCFD will post information about our hydrant testing, and areas that we are working in on our Facebook (FCFD Station 410) and our website www.fredericktownfire.netin order to keep residents up to date.

Structure fires happen every day across the United States.  The National level data providing us those statistics goes back decades and while the trend on fires has been decreasing in the period measured 2008-2017, one trend hasn’t.  While overall fires have decreased, unfortunately the trending number of fire deaths has increased 9.6 percent.  As a fire department, we can’t ignore the statistics, we know fires are going to happen, but through inspections and preplanning structures within the community we can improve the odds of survival.

Over the course of the last year the Fredericktown Community Fire District has worked diligently throughout the community in providing fire safety inspections of businesses and areas where required per the laws applicable within the State of Ohio. Why is this so important to residents of our community and those passing through?  In short, the answer is that inspections identify potential problems, fire hazards, and meet statutory requirements.  Inspections are an integral part of a successful fire prevention program, something that the FCFD strives to achieve at every opportunity possible.

Inspections don’t just prevent fire death and injury; a comprehensive fire inspection looks at many safety facets.  Exits, lights, signage, dimensions, container sizes, heights of stored materials, safety barriers, and so much more.  On a recent motor vehicle crash, what came in as oil on the roadway could have been far worse if appropriate safety devices weren’t in place.  Fire code places requirements for vehicle impact protection, something that undoubtedly saved the life of a driver on Saturday who struck a barrier surrounding a large propane tank in Fredericktown.

While some may immediately have negative connotations about inspections, and envision enormous fines and the closing of businesses, nothing could be further from the truth. By far, the largest part of the inspection tends to lean toward educating the public about the fire code, why there are requirements, and providing answers and options on how to become compliant. In a great majority of our inspections this year, more time is spent on the educational piece and communicating with members of the community than it takes to actually complete the inspection. Furthermore, a great majority of items that are found in our inspections are able to be fixed by the owner or tenant at little to no cost such as moving items from in front of a door or panel, replacing a cord with a surge protector, putting an outlet cover on, changing how materials and goods are stored, and general housekeeping.

How important is the enforcement of the Ohio Fire Code and conducting inspections?  Sadly, these rules exist in many cases because of injuries or fatalities that have happened over the course of time.  Time and time again historical fires and incidents around the United States have played a key role in writing or updating of fire codes. These rules are written in the blood of civilians and firefighters with the goal of preventing it from ever happening again.  Completion of inspections to ensure compliance and making corrections has the potential to reduce the chances of injury or death to civilians and firefighters.

The Ohio Fire Code consists of over 500 pages of information that are referenced in the process of construction, inspections, and daily operation, and are the law.  In your daily life, so many things have been affected by these codes and go almost completely unnoticed.  The gas station you stopped at, your office entrance door, lighting, how a door opens or operates at your child’s school, how wide an aisle must be in a conference room, signage on a door, where sprinklers are located, exits, and thousands more.  When all applicable codes are complied with and enforced it provides a safer environment where known hazards have been mitigated.

The FCFD has a total of seven Certified Fire Safety Inspectors (CFSI) that underwent a significant initial State of Ohio certification to understand and be able to apply codes within Ohio.  Along with certification, inspectors must maintain continuing education requirements to remain credentialed.  There are no fees assessed by the FCFD to conduct a fire inspection.