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Home My WebLink About770532.tiff ke OFFICE OF WELD COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS 4,10 ELMER (BUD) REYNOLDS, DIRECTOR PHONE 1303)356-4000 EXT.245 P.O.BOX 758 GREELEY,COLORADO 80631 C Ws!9 oury "ERS • rn ", . COLORADO JAN 111O77 GREELjY. COLO, January 11 , 1977 June Steinmark OSS.ice 06 Board o4 County Commibslone'r4 P.U. Box 758 Greeley, Co. 80631 Dear MA. Stetnman.k, In regard to the letter beam Elmer C. Fahrenbnuch, Fine MaMhal oS Bn.ightan, I would like to apologize bon .the delay in answaLng. Due to the extensive investigation I have done ne: a Fine Manchaft's position a was very time con4uming. In .talking with pensannet aS Sine departments and °then sources, I Sound they would very much .like to have a pennon in the position 04 Fine Manzhat, but Seel unless .it was an unpaid position Lon it would not be Seas,i.ble San u, now due to tack o.6 Sund's. Thank you Son your attention. Regards, Vic , Elmer H. "Bud" Reynolds Dinec-ton OS Civil De5ense Son wetd County jma 770532 Sp))a WELD COUNTY COMMISSIONERS NORMAN CAR LSON LEONARD ROE I r - JUNE STEINMARK VICTOR JACOBUCCI .._.Pk 72Z-. PC a ti ED DUNBAR �� >ti i A (1b. �,h2,c i - tiAn < -tiN ceit SUBURBAN LIVING CITY OF BRIGHTON a.1.4-Ern F�(j AT IT'S BEST FIRE PREVENTION BUREAU BRIGHTON.COLORADO 80601 October 21 , 1976 Glenn K. Billings, Chairman Office of Board of County Commissioners P.O . Box 758 Greeley, Colorado 80631 Dear Mr. Billings , Through the years of being on the work end of a fire hose , I have always visualized the future as preventing fires, rather than extinguishing fires large or small. I have finally reached what I feel is a competent position to say, " I do believe most fires can be prevented . " The prevention of fires does not come to man as a gift but man is gifted that receives this knowledge . "We do not choose our own parts in life , and, have nothing to do with these parts . Our duty is confined to playing them well. " (Epictetues) Many changes have come about in the Fire Service , but the one , Fire Prevention, is late getting started. Time has a way of passing one by without warning. This is the only reason I find for the lateness of this important factor pertaining to the safety and satisfaction of Fire Prevention , available for all citizens of Weld County. The office of State Fire Marshal and/or State Fire Prevention Bureau has been before legislation for the past fifteen or sixteen years yet, the State of Colorado is one of possibly four states , including Canada , that does not provide the most important fire safety factor available for the business man , as property owners of highly insured business facilities , the employee , 2 whose work and wage factors are affected by both high insurance rates and the constant danger of the loss of the very business providing the employees wage and a home for his family. I realize this to be a very harsh statement to make as an opening letter to intelligent people such as elected county officials , yet, anyone person cannot be expected , nor is it possible , to be versed in all aspects of life or responsibilities . The County of Weld , being a home rule county, can and should consider the adoption of a Fire Prevention Bureau , not necessarily an added self controlled agent of the county, but as an assisting agent , available throughout the county, with fire departments being of a volunteer basis. Not to discriminate against the volunteer units , (I myself a volunteer for 16 years) , but with the experience I have had in the past, I am now experiencing a very great demand of my time to assist both volunteer and paid fire departments . I honestly feel the general public is in great need for services that are not now available to them. I will attempt to explain in part , some of the needed services : ( 1 ) Volunteer fire departments are dependent upon outside agencies for proper training. Some of the training avail- able is for paid or full time departments . This type of training does nothing for the volunteer except to confuse him on most major issues . ( 2) Volunteer departments , except for a minute few, have trained personnel to recognize an apparent arson and if they did , would unknowingly destroy evidence of said arson . (3) If arson is suspected , an officer of the Sheriffs Department, does in fact , conduct the first investigation . Not all Sheriffs personnel , if any, have the proper training for this type of work. (4 ) The next procedure would be for an insurance invest- igator to be summoned to the scene and his only goal is to prove the insurance company not liable . ( 5) If a death is involved , the sheriff does, in fact , investigate the tragedy and the County Coroner determines the cause of death . The cause of fire is seldom revealed 3 unless facts are outstanding. (6) Oil production is becoming a major factor, both for fire and safety. This is very rapidly becoming county wide . Few, if any, fire departments or sheriffs officers are familiar with the aspects of oil well services . A good. example , was the fire and death west of Fort Lupton . Even the OSHA investigator is tempted to write this off as a company negligence to allow the family of the deceased to reap the monetary harvest. (7) New construction of public schools and public assembly facilities throughout the county, although some being under the jurisdiction of the Colorado Department of Labor, Division of Safety, which has two inspectors through- out the state , has not been reviewed by knowledgeable Fire Inspectors. This has been co-ordinated with the Weld. County Building Department, for the southern area of the county. I have reviewed building plans and assisted in the inspections with your well organized Building Department . (8) Existing buildings serving large numbers of the public including smaller outlying towns , have never been safety inspected by knowledgeable personnel nor have any of the required safety factors noted , been required to be corrected . (9) The Uniform Building Code and the Uniform Fire Code , as adopted by Weld. County, must work in conjunction or both are useless . This not only requires co-operation but also , persons educated in the field of both building and fire safety. ( 10) Fire fighting by the best organization , if the proper approach or procedure is unknown , jeopardizes the lives of every fireman on the scene plus the spectator and the adjoining structures The question I visualize of you at this point is , how can we possibly assist in solving these problems without creating a tax burden on the Citizen EASY, (a ) Adopt within the County of Weld , the position of Fire Marshal or a Fire Prevention Bureau. 4. (b) Hire a competent person to establish a county wide training and assistance agency. This agency shall be co-ordinated with the Sheriff , Building Department, Planning and. Zoning, all Fire Departments within the County, Civil Defense and most of all , the County Commissioners Office . (c ) Retain a person that possesses knowledge of fire , has 10 to 15 years of fire service and has acquired at least an Associates Degree in Fire Science . This person shall need the ability to communicate with the volunteer firemen , so some volunteer service needs to be within his background . I personally would object to the college type person . We need to be able to communicate with non-college personnel. (d ) The laws of Fire Prevention shall be a major concern in the selection of this person . ( e ) Provide for an assistant to this person because of the territory to be covered . ( f) Provide adequate facilities to permit transportation and communication with all agencies and an area to retain a required file . (g) Assure other agencies that this person shall be an asset rather than a hinderance to the prevailing agencies . I could go on endlessly describing the necessity of this agent but would rather meet with you at your convenience , for more details . I have in my possession a model Fire Marshals Code as outlined by the National Fire Protection Association of America . This section of the National Fire Protection Association is a guide as used by the National Fire Protection Office of Washington , D. C. My background to substantiate this request is 16 years with a volunteer fire department , with 12 of these years in inspection and investigations . I have three years and six months as Fire Marshal of the City of Brighton , with 42 square miles in Weld County and 153 square miles of Adams County. My first 16 years were served with South Adams County including Commerce City, 5 within the oil refinery area . It has been my pleasure to work with the Adams County Commissioners , Adams County Planning and. Zoning, Adams County Building Department and. Sheriffs Department. My association with Tri- County Health , Colorado Division of Gas and. Oil and the local School District has been oustanding. My function in the City of Brighton , with all agencies has been very well excepted. I have assisted. Weld. County Sheriffs Office , the Building and Planning Departments , as well as the Dacona , Fredrick and. Hudson Fire Departments , Fort Lupton Fire , Police and Council and have been associated, with the Northern Colorado Firemens Association , not to mention many other units . I do have an Associates Degree in Fire Science and have given many hours of training time to fire departments throughout the area . Building construction inspections , mechanical drawing, blue print reading and some electrical education were required to obtain the Degree I now hold . I , myself, feel qualified to request your or any other county to pursue the County Fire Marshal Law. I remain to assist in any way, if you should decide to pursue this function. This request to be heard , is known by the City Manager of Brighton , Ronald. Hellbusch and by the Northern Colorado Firemens Association . Respectfully, eVtlartae" Elmer C . Fahrenbruch Fire Marshal Fire Prevention Bureau 36 South Main Street Brighton , Colorado 80601 Hello