Tennessee County Fire Handbook

Tennessee County

Fire Handbook

prepared by

Kevin J. Lauer

Fire Management Consultant

TENNESSEE

COUNTY FIRE

HANDBOOK

Kevin J. Lauer

Fire Management Consultant

DEDICATION

The Tennessee County Fire Handbook is dedicated

to Dwight and Gloria Kessel. Dwight Kessel gave

31 years of dedicated service to the people of

Knox County as a Knoxville City Council member,

Knox County Clerk and County Executive. During

his tenure as County Executive, Kessel oversaw

tremendous growth in the county��s population

and services provided. The county was handed

several duplicate governmental services from

the city such as schools, jails, libraries and

indigent care (which became a model that other

communities across the nation studied and used

to improve their delivery of indigent care). All

were successfully absorbed into the realm of

county services.

In 1983 Knox County suffered some major losses

from apartment ?res, including one fatality.

Kessel put together a task force to address what

was needed to prevent these tragic events from

re-occurring. In 1984 the County Commission

passed a resolution establishing a ?re prevention

department. Building and ?re codes were adopted

and subsequently two groups were formed to

enforce the codes. The building department

addressed new construction practices and the ?re

bureau��s role focused on ?re prevention practices

in both new and existing buildings. Over time the

?re bureau expanded to provide public education

and ?re/arson investigation as well as code

enforcement. This approach was unprecedented at

the time on a county level and remains a model

that most counties in the state should study to

improve life safety and property loss reduction.

Even after Kessel��s tenure in of?ce, he has

continued to improve county government across

the state. The Kessel��s generous endowment

to the University of Tennessee was earmarked

for special projects that the County Technical

Assistance Service (CTAS) would not normally

be able to fund. The endowment has made

this groundbreaking evaluation of county ?re

protection possible. Many issues and concerns

have been identi?ed, and this book will assist

county of?cials for many more years with

improving ?re protection.

The University of Tennessee and CTAS are

extremely appreciative and grateful to have

supporters like Dwight and Gloria Kessel who

assist with the mission of improving the delivery

of county governmental services across the state

of Tennessee.

COUNTY TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE SERVICE ? TENNESSEE COUNTY FIRE HANDBOOK

FOREWORD

County government of?cials and local citizens

across the state face many challenges in regard

to ?re protection issues. The most serious

of the concerns is the fact that the state of

Tennessee has the second highest ?re death

rate in the nation. Many factors contribute

to this grim statistic, including some of the

de?ciencies that are identi?ed in this publication.

Secondly, numerous counties are becoming more

urbanized due to massive growth and changes in

demographics and land usage. With the increased

urbanization, more demands for traditionally

��municipal�� services are challenging county

of?cials. One pressing service is in regard to ?re

protection. In the past, most counties have given

donations to the local volunteer ?re departments

and some have bought apparatus for these

departments. This action is being examined more

closely across the state. With the costs of ?re

engines exceeding $150,000 per truck and ladder

trucks in excess of $500,000, county of?cials

see an increased need to ensure proper planning

prior to these purchases in accordance to long

range plans addressing the overall ��?re situation.��

Several counties have to address the decreased

availability of volunteer and part-time personnel

during normal working hours. Fire prevention

services, along with building codes, are an

increasing service to improve public welfare and

reduce losses.

to accomplish this goal, initially two surveys

were developed. One was sent to all County

Executives/Mayors, and a more in-depth survey

was sent to more than 650 ?re departments.

Additional site visits were taken to encourage ?re

departments to complete the evaluation survey.

The following pages contain the results of this

project. During the scope of this assessment,

an additional 17 county projects were requested

regarding ?re protection issues. Some have been

completed, while others are in various stages of

completion. The challenges regarding the delivery

of a balanced and progressive approach to ?re

protection will only increase as populations grow

and demographics shift. Counties will be called

upon to provide higher levels of ?re protection

services and must begin to plan for these issues

prior to the occurrence of a crisis or catastrophe.

The scope of this document is to determine the

need for ?re protection assistance to county

governments, assess the current level of ?re

protection across the state and establish a

reference source for improving the multiple

versions of ?re protection services. In order

(Note: Most percentages referenced in this

document were rounded to the nearest whole

number; therefore, some tables that categorize all

responders to the survey may not add up to 100

percent.)

The County Technical Assistance Service (CTAS)

intends to assist counties with these issues by

providing comprehensive reference materials,

educational opportunities addressing current

and crucial topics, and a high level of technical

assistance that most counties have found

essential to the delivery of county services. It is

the goal of CTAS to assist counties in providing

the highest level of ?re protection that is

economically feasible in each jurisdiction that

chooses to address this issue.

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