24/7 inspection of the building for any signs of fire hazards such as smoke, flames, and odors.After hiring, our fire watch guards understand the layout of the building/area to know all the exit points and placement of fire extinguishers, making sure they can combat fire outbreaks and report to the authorities in a professional way.Following OSHA fire prevention plan guidelines and assuring proper measures to prevent fire hazards such as conducting surveillance effectively, contacting emergency services when needed, assisting in an emergency evacuation, and making safety equipment readily available. It's the duty of a security guard, including a fire watch guard, to systematically document their findings as they patrol the unoccupied and the occupied areas of the building, promptly sharing it with the management on-site and their company in real-time. Maintaining routine logs as the evidence required by local officials and insurance companies.Conducting systematic surveillance minimizes the risk of such emergencies including hazardous fire outbreaks. Preventing and minimizing the damage to commercial property or construction sites through timely detection of emergencies.Injuries are caused due to ignoring safety measures, one of which is having a quick fire response team to handle fire-related emergencies. Avoiding injury and loss of life of your workers or visitors on the site.The law requires the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to develop guidance for a new ember-resistant zone within zero to five feet of the home by January 1, 2023. Assembly Bill 3074, which passed into law last year, additionally creates a third zone for defensible space. “That’s going to change a lot of things going on in the Ranch and it now directly ties defensible space clearance to property values,” Kreutz said.Ĭurrently, defensible space zones are within 30 feet and 100 feet of the property. In the sale of a home in a high or very high fire hazard severity zone, defensible space clearance must be adhered to and signed off on by the fire department before the sale can go through. Kreutz said the Association will allow homeowners to opt out: residents will get their own map but they will not be shared with any fire authority.Īs of July 1 this year, a new state law on seller responsibility took effect. With hardened data on what is out there in the community, he said RSF firefighters and other responding agencies will have better information to fight a wildfire. “My mission statement is to protect life, property and environment through preparedness, prevention and education and when those three don’t work it goes into emergency response,” McQuead said. She can use the maps to apply for grants to clear areas along the roadways and Association-owned open space.įor the fire department, the mapping supports fire defense planning, a tool for managing evacuation routes and identifying open space areas for high-risk mitigation. While the maps will allow every resident to see what’s happening on their own properties, at a community level, Kreutz said the maps provide information on vegetation type, distribution and health and proximity to structures and roads. The fire district’s authority is 100 feet from a structure and 50 feet from the road. “The fire department cannot use the maps to come on private property without permission or give an abatement notice,” Kreutz said.ĭave McQuead, Rancho Santa Fe Protection District deputy chief, said the district must physically see a potential fire hazard in person from the public right of way. Kreutz addressed some of those concerns at the Sept. Through their partnership with FireWatch, aerial imaging will provide a new tool for residents to help in creating defensible space zones around their homes that can help slow the spread of wildfire, protect lives and property.Ĭaitlin Kreutz, the Association’s environmental resource coordinator, also hopes that FireWatch maps can help increase the insurability of properties as a number of Covenant residents have seen their insurance policies dropped due to high fire risk.Ī FireWatch informational town hall was held in July and as the Association prepares to make maps available to homeowners, they have heard questions about privacy and what and how information is shared. The Rancho Santa Fe Association is getting ready to send defensible space maps to every homeowner in the Covenant.
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