Should Condo Associations Be More Proactive in Fire Prevention

/ Owner - February 15, 2012

In going back over the news stories for January, I was surprised to find that there were more condominium fires in those 31 days, than  in any previous month during the 10 years I’ve been tracking those stories.  I was surprised because I would have thought that with the mild weather, the usual causes of winter fires would have declined, fireplaces, space heaters etc.  But, after thinking about it for awhile, I decided that we were probably lucky with the warmer weather.  There would probably have been even more fires if the weather had been colder.  Why?  Just like associations around the country, condo owners are stretching out their maintenance expenses, and I’m sure that in a lot of units furnace and fireplace cleanings and inspections, smoke detector battery replacement and testing, stove burner cleaning and replacement, etc. may have been postponed until “the money was better”.  The problem with this it that while these items are often the responsibility of the owner, not the association, failure to maintain them can put other people at risk.

Every association should have a fire prevention policy.  What items should be considered in a “proactive” fire prevention policy:

  • Require that furnaces and fireplaces be cleaned and inspected annually
  • Require that a certified, multi-purpose fire extinguisher be within close proximity to items that cause fires – stoves, furnaces, grills
  • Require functioning smoke detectors on every level of the unit and that batteries should be changed at least twice a year (unless they have the 10-year, long-life battery or if the detector is hard-wired)
  • Require that units which have smokers residing in them use only sand or water-filled ashtrays.  Units with smokers should also be prohibited from having mulch in potted plants on decks or mulch or other flammable materials in patios (you’d be surprised by the number of fires started by people putting their cigarettes out  – or not out -in mulch-filled planters, or just tossing them into their back yard)
  • Require that grills be kept at least 10 feet away from the unit.  Grills on small decks should be electric, not gas or charcoal.
  • Require that units not store highly flammable items, such as paint, gas, etc.  (you might expand this to large amounts of paper to give yourself some leverage in hoarding issues)

Now the question is, how does a board make sure that the fire prevention rules are being followed?

If the association has a direct responsibility for some of the items, such as the furnace or fireplace, then establishing a maintenance and cleaning schedule would be relatively easy to enforce.  However, if the owner has the responsibility for the items listed above, checking on them could be viewed as an intrusion.  Check your documents with your attorney to see what’s possible and then check with the owners to see what’s going to be acceptable.

You may want to consider sending out a notice every year asking the each owner to check the above list of items and respond that all items are in compliance with the rules.  At the very least, it would serve to remind them.

You should consider asking for volunteers to help seniors deal with some of the issues, like changing smoke alarm batteries.  Recently, an elderly woman died in a condo fire that started in her unit.  The smoke alarm didn’t work because of a dead battery. She wasn’t able to get on the ladder/stepstool to change it.  Helping out now and then is a good thing and should be a regular part of your community.

Reminding people about things they feel they already know sounds like nagging, but it only takes one small ember, and a lot of owners could find themselves without places to live or a lot worse.  Fire prevention is a continuous effort at reminding people to use caution and common sense.  Don’t put it aside because it’s boring.

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