Gilyard Protection
Service
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Phone: 833-248-2738
Gilyard Protection Service Fire Watch Service
We are going to shed some light on this often misunderstood and underappreciated fire prevention technique, including when fire watches are needed and why you should choose us to carry them out for you. We will dig into the details of what’s required so building owners or property managers can feel confidence that have hired our fire watch service that will help them execute with in compliance with codes, standards, and laws.
This can feel overwhelming to many property owners or property managers, and they can also be expensive, given the diversion of manpower or hiring of outside contractors to keep a watchful eye on the building. That’s where we come in. We help you execute one while your fire protection system is undergoing quick repairs or revisions.
So, a fire marshal issued the dreaded order: your property needs a fire watch service. This is often done when a fire alarm, fire sprinkler, standpipe, or other fire protection system is out of service due to damage or scheduled maintenance.
Why would I need a fire watch?
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Notifying the fire department and building occupants to an emergency
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Preventing a fire from occurring
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Extinguishing small fires
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Protecting the public from fire or life safety dangers
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Help Plan Evacuations
Fire Watch Reason 1: A building’s fire alarm, fire sprinkler, or fire suppression system is impaired, or an outage is preplanned that’s expected to last a significant amount of time.
Reason 2: Hot work will be occurring in the building.
“Hot work” is most typically associated with welding and cutting, it can mean any type of work that produces a spark or flame, including using a torch or grinding.
Hot work is a leading cause of industrial fires and has triggered many other building fires.
How do we conduct a fire watch?
Our fire watch service consists of one or more trained personnel charged with maintaining life safety by continuously patrolling all areas of a property affected by an impairment or other fire watch condition.
If smoke, fire, or other abnormal conditions are spotted, our fire watcher officer will immediately contact emergency personnel, alert building occupants, and help evacuate the building.
The main responsibilities of our fire watch officers include:
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Searching diligently for fires
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Immediately addressing any hazards that are discovered.
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Controlling fire ignition sources
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Making sure there’s adequate means of egress and removing any obstructions.
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Making sure other alarm systems are functioning properly.
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Standing ready to contact the local fire department.
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Standing ready to extinguish any fires using a portable fire extinguisher or hose.
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Alerting occupants to hazardous conditions that require evacuation.
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Documenting patrols at least once every hour.
Who can conduct a fire watch?
Building owners or property management essentially have two options for performing fire watches: using our service or outsourcing the responsibility to building staff.
To receive the best perform of duties, let our fire watch officer who are assigned to a fire watch service become familiar with the building or premises and because they have received formal training in the proper use of fire extinguishers and other emergency fire protection equipment, and they will fully understand emergency evacuation procedures, safety plans, alarm activation procedures, and can access all areas in a fast and safe manner.
Fire watch patrols should systematically cover the impacted area every 30 mins. or hour, documenting their findings at the completion of each round.
It’s important to note that our fire watchers’ responsibilities don’t stop with occupied areas of a building. They must also check unoccupied areas such as storage rooms, crawl spaces, and concealed places.
Our Fire watch officers are trained to understand hazards at the site and the nature of any hot work being conducted.
They should have the authority to stop hot work if unsafe conditions develop as well.
They are also trained in how to fill out fire watch log sheets since fire codes require thorough documentation of all activities associated with a fire watch.
Our fire watch officers will learn the location of manual fire alarm stations and understand the sequence of events required for fire response and sounding alarms.
They have formal training in the proper use of emergency safety equipment and are able to easily access it.
That said, our fire watch officers will only attempt to extinguish a fire if it’s plausible with the available equipment.
Fire watch: the end is in sight.
We are here for you and will continue until the system is restored to proper working order, any necessary inspections and tests are completed, and the fire department has been notified. That’s our promise to you.
A well-organized fire watch team keeps a close eye on structures during risky activities or while fire protection impairments are corrected.
That’s what we do for you