A Times Editorial

Regular fire inspections are too critical to delay

Buried in the presentation of a new countywide fire protection master plan was a vital piece of information: Pasco County has insufficient personnel to conduct required fire inspections.

"I want to be able to say to anyone who asks that we're able to get in there (inside commercial buildings) every two or three years. I can't even say that and that makes me a little nervous," Pasco fire Chief Anthony Lopinto acknowledged.

Commissioners should share the anxiety. The 98 deaths attributable to a nightclub fire outside Providence, R.I., last month has spawned lawsuits against the town's fire inspector, alleging he failed to detect highly flammable soundproofing material. Imagine the litigation if no inspector had been inside the club for three years.

Pasco County has four positions assigned to fire inspections. The inspectors routinely check for such things as illuminated exit signs, working extinguishers, unencumbered access points and unlocked exits. But the workload grows annually with new commercial buildings accompanied by prerequisite plans approval. County fire inspectors reviewed more than 4,500 new construction sites last year.

Lopinto told commissioners there are 20,000 commercial buildings in the county. Florida Fire Protection Code requires inspections "as often as may be necessary, but not less than annually." In addition, the county, under state mandate, conducts annual inspections of hundreds of hospitals, day care sites, nursing homes, schools and other public buildings with many sites having multiple structures. For instance, the county inspects 39 schools composed of 600 individual buildings.

The county added one inspector two years ago, but its current buildup of fire department personnel and equipment -- to be financed through property taxes and a proposed impact fee -- does not address additional inspectors. It should.

Lopinto said his department is researching the idea of assessing a fire inspection fee to cover the additional personnel costs. He said he will ask the commission for financing to add inspectors during the upcoming budget process. Commissioners would be wise to expedite the hirings considering it already has a funding mechanism in place, a property tax for its fire district, to cover its fire department personnel costs.

If the current staff is overwhelmed by new construction, those costs should be accounted for in the price of obtaining a county building permit or occupational license. New Port Richey, for instance, assesses a $25 administrative fee for new occupational licenses, a portion of which is intended to offset part of the cost of a fire inspection.

Asking owners of existing commercial buildings, already paying the fire tax, to pony up a surcharge for an inspection could discourage public participation.

That would be dangerous. Fire prevention is in everyone's best interests.

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