Monthly Report
California State Fire Marshal
July 2004
General Info
On June 25th, Governor Schwarzenegger appointed Dave Geldert as Director of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and Ruben Grijalva as State Fire Marshal.
Geldert comes from the fire service most recently serving as the Fire Chief and Deputy City Manager for the City of Oceanside.
Ruben Grijalva has an extensive fire service background and most recently served as the Fire Chief for the City of Palo Alto. He has not yet reported to work as the SFM, but is slated to start in August. He has a good background and experience that will prove beneficial for both the State Fire Marshal’s Office, as well as the fire service. We are looking forward to welcoming him.
Code Enforcement
Funding
The Governor’s 2004-2005 Budget proposed that all Code Enforcement activities performed by the Office of the State Fire Marshal be reimbursed by the agency receiving the benefit of these services. The State Fire Marshal’s Code Enforcement was previously funded by the General Fund. The Governor’s budget therefore removed our code enforcement funding from the General Fund. Therefore, effective July 1st ,we initiated a cost recovery process for our services, and redirected our staff to focus all their workload and efforts to inspections and services to State-Owned and State-Leased facilities and institutions.
Statutes and Regulations Course
SFM Division Chief Hugh Council and Division Chief Joe Garcia presented an SFM Statutes and Regulations class in Monrovia, June 8-10th. The class was well attended and went very well. The next class is scheduled for September 14-16 in Orange County.
Fire Engineering
The Fire Engineering Division has completed their renewals for all licensing programs. They can be accessed on our web site at: http://osfm.fire.ca.gov
SFM ADVISORY COMMITTEES
The following SFM Advisory Committee’s are chaired by Fire Engineering Division and appointments to these committees will be reviewed and reauthorized in the near future. We are seeking representation from the membership of Northern and/or Southern FPO’s for these committees. If you are interested in appointment to any of these committees, please contact Mike Richwine, Chief, at (916) 445-8312 or mike.richwine@fire.ca.gov
Fireworks disposal operations are continuing in Los Angeles and Inyo Counties. The SFM is working with Cal EPA on long-term solutions to this problem. Fireworks seizures are required to be reported in writing if SFM assistance with disposal is anticipated. The Fireworks Seizure Report form is located on the SFM web page.
The database for the Flame Retardant Program is currently being reviewed and tested by the FR Program Analyst and a member of IT (Information Technology) for minor "glitches" with the system. The Program is expected to be up and running smoothly within the next couple of weeks. At that time, the website for the Flame Retardant Program will also be updated with current Fabric, Chemical and General Applicator lists.
The BML Program would like to inform the local FPO’s that all CSFM listings have been renewed until June 30, 2005 and are posted on our website. All fire alarm listings are renewed and available on the website to assist you in the plan review of fire alarm systems and equipment. We would like to remind you that although we list many products and materials, there are only two (2) required to be listed and approved by the State Fire Marshal; fire alarm equipment and devices [H&S Code 13114(b)] and wood shakes and shingles for roofs [H&S 13132.7((j)(1)]. Other products and materials are strictly voluntary. The website may be accessed @ osfm.fire.ca.gov/bml.html.
Applications for this vacant position are being reviewed and interviews will be scheduled soon.
With an additional person in our office we were able to review about 40 investigations of cases that were completed over the last 18 months. Out of these, 15 Notices of Violation will be sent out by July 31 to concerns and Certificate of Registration holders. The testing backlog in Monrovia has been eliminated. Cleared up last 28 Concern Licenses requiring addition paperwork from 2003, with a goal of thirty days in the next licensing cycle. Licensed 20 new concerns throughout the state
Automatic Extinguishing Systems,
Issued SFM Information Bulletin on UL 300 Commercial Kitchen Hood Systems, that deemed fire suppression systems that would not extinguish a vegetable oil fire a fire hazard and also establishes guidance for the replacement of existing fire suppression systems. The bulletin also explained replacement of exhaust hood systems. The Information Bulletin was created with the assistance of an ad-hoc group of local fire prevention representatives and industry. The Bulletin is available on the SFM website.
The SFM is also working with Contractor State Licensing Board to help in compliance issues for local AHJ and to have the Fire Protection Complaint form put on our web site.