Every year, Chestermere Fire Services (CFS) completes commercial fire inspections on all existing and new businesses in Chestermere to ensure compliance with the Alberta Fire and Building Codes.
“At the end of the day what we’re really looking for is to make sure that these places are safe for residents and firefighters,” said Chestermere Fire Capt. Joel Fournie.
When conducting an inspection, firefighters are looking to ensure that in an emergency anyone in the building can safely exit it or safely mitigate the emergency.
This can include checking the location of exit signage, fire extinguishers, pull stations and other safety and fire suppression systems.
The inspections also help firefighters familiarize themselves with the buildings and businesses in the city.
“If we are to respond to a commercial structure fire, knowing the building really helps us formulate our strategy,” said Fournie.
This knowledge can allow firefighters to take the quickest and safest routes into a building to access things such as electrical panels in an emergency.
Each of the four duty crews take about a quarter of the businesses in the city and complete the inspections as they have time over the course of the year.
“I think its really positive that we’re engaged in that,” said Fournie.
“We like being out, learning about each business, being seen in the community is really important,” he said.
The platoons are periodically switched around which helps to build a complete institutional knowledge of the structures in Chestermere.
Fournie said that on most inspections any infractions they find are quite simple such as storing combustible materials under an electrical panel.
“For one that’s a fire hazard,” he said, “and two, if we need to get into that electrical panel we need space, we’re wearing big gear.”
He said that firefighters need three to five feet of space to maneuver when wearing full protective gear.
The also check to make sure that fire exits are unobstructed.
“It’s making sure again that people are able to get out,” he said.
When infractions are found, Fournie said that they try to focus on education and working with the business owner to get them up to code rather than enforcement and fines.
“We don’t want people to be scared, we’re there to help you along,” he said.
“We’re there to educate you on the fire code,” said Fournie.
CFS has conducted several inspections this month but commercial inspections can be done any time of year based on the availability of the fire crews.
Business owners can also call CFS for inspections or for information on the building and fire codes.
