Fire Inspection Frequency

LFD gains new fire marshal, company officer

Eddie Steed and Jon David Everhart were recognized for their recent promotions during a pinning ceremony at the Lexington Fire Department Headquarters on East Center Street. Steed, the department's newest company officer, and Everhart, the city's first fire marshal in the past 25 years, were joined by family members, friends, colleagues and city officials at the ceremony.

"I think it is very special," Lexington Fire Chief Phil Hartley said of the ceremony. "These guys have worked hard. They have done all the right things. They have went to all the schools and got all the qualifications that they needed. As chief, it's my duty to highlight this part of their career and just let them know they have done a good job."

Everhart, 32, and Steed, 40, both held the rank of company engineer II, which entails driving the fire truck, before being promoted by Hartley.

Everhart, a Lexington native who's been a member of the Tyro Volunteer Fire Department since 1997, has been employed by the Lexington Fire Department since November 2002. Everhart, who called the promotion an "honor," has been in his new job since July 25. Everhart said his goal is ensure safety of all the buildings in the city.

Steed, a Denton native who's been a member of the Denton Volunteer Fire Department since 2000, was hired in August 2003 by the Lexington Fire Department. He was promoted to company officer in January 2010.

"I like being able to work with the people below me and help them get to the position I am in," Steed said. "My goal is just to develop my personnel and provide the service that the city needs."

Hartley said the Lexington Fire Department has 12 company officers.These agents are in charge of a fire truck and three firefighters and make important decisions, as if firefighters have to make an internal or external attack.

"There are a lot of confidence that housing officer of the company because you have to trust their judgments and decisions," said Fire Chief.

Hartley said he has noticed the need to create the position of Fire Marshal when he began serving as chief July 1, 2010, after the retirement of Chief Thad Dickerson. Hartley said he determined that the department needed more consistency in its inspections. That inconsistency was highlighted recently when the chief acknowledged that the Crisis Ministry of Davidson County had gone without an inspection for the last 10 years.

He said firefighters who are certified inspectors have conducted fire inspections in the city prior to Everhart's promotion. Those inspectors do annual, two-year and three-year inspections. Hartley said the frequency of inspections depends on the occupancy type. In Crisis Ministry's case, the nonprofit needed an annual inspection.

Frequency of Rental Property Inspections at Blame in Frostburg ...

This post hits home for me because I attended Frostburg State and my wife Kim became friends with one of the victims through her sorority KTE. As an owner of multiple rental properties that I rent to students at the University of Maryland in College Park, I can tell you first hand that diligent rental inspectors exist that do thorough inspections of my companies homes and having a window in each bedroom is a MINIMUM!!!  I have a house on Girard Avenue that they recently had me redo an entire deck and paint the outside of to the tune of over $5,000.00. My point is they pay so much attention to detail on these inspections that the existence of a window would be the foremost thing on the list probably next to having smoke alarms. Which leads to another point-did a smoke alarm exist that maybe would have woken the kids up before the fire got too big?

I did a little digging and did find this on an online item from the City of Frostburg Rental Housing Code:

08.    Exits:  Rental Units shall be provided with two (2) independent fire escape routes.  An escape route such as an exterior porch roof, an accessible operable exterior window, or an exterior door or landing may constitute an independent fire escape route.  Exterior fire escapes shall be designed to prevent the accumulation of snow or ice. 03.    Minimum window opening shall be 820 square inches (5.7 square feet) with a minimum of twenty-four inches (24”) high and a minimum of twenty inches (20”) wide.  Opening must be obtainable without the use of tools.  Bottom of opening shall be no more than forty-four inches (44”) above the floor or to the top of an appropriate fixed step or platform. 03.All rental units must be inspected for compliance with this order on a routine basis. The frequency of routine inspections will be determined by the age of the oldest part of any part of the structure containing adjacent or close to the rental unit and the maximum permitted occupancy of the rental according to the following schedule:

Copy and paste this link in your browser. This will take you to the International Residential Code 2009. I believe that all states of this country have adopted this code "International Building.” 2009 is the most recent version. The room/building I stayed in @ The Frostburg Inn (Homecoming-2010) was surely not compliant in numerous ways, not just concerning fire.

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