Community Corner

It Could Be a While Before the Fire Marshal Visits

Fire Marshal Fred Baker hopes cut man hours will be reinstated.

New Canaan Fire Marshal Fred Baker estimates that hundreds of commercial spaces and public buildings in town will not be inspected within the recommended interval if staffing levels in his office remain where they are.

There are 141 buildings on the list for annual fire code inspections—schools, churches, multi-family complexes, restaurants, health care offices, repair shops, and dry cleaners. The Fire Marshal's office has continued to get to all of those.

But last April, the two part-time inspectors' hours were cut back from 15 hours a week to 7.5.

As a result, Baker says instead of the two or three years recommended by the state it will now take his office seven years to get to about three quarters of the 875 spaces, such as the shops and offices downtown, that are not on the annual list.

So far, there have been no adverse consequences but, said Baker, "It's relatively cheap insurance. It's like not changing the oil in your car, right away, is anything going to happen? No. But down the road..."

Baker will be lobbying Town Hall to bring back the part-time inspectors' lost hours, which would mean an increase of about $31,000 to the fire marshal's budget in the coming fiscal year over the $16,000 appropriated for 2009-2010. The fire marshal says that would bring the inspection frequency back under the required mark.

"If we do our job well nothing happens, and people forget that," Baker said. He's hoping town government will remember during the upcoming budget negotiations.


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