Key points:
- How fire monitoring fulfills needs beyond compliance.
- The top hazards for the top reasons to dispatch fire watch.
- Why special events have different compliance requirements.
Temporary fire watch monitors do more than fulfill your compliance requirements. A trained and certified professional minimizes risk of loss within your building or business, including everything and everyone inside. Fire spreads fast, so you must think beyond your building or business to your nearby businesses and community members.
The average employee or maintenance technician is not familiar with how to determine fire hazards, how to reduce risk, or how to differentiate classes of fires. If fire ignites, they aren’t as efficient in their response, including fighting small fires and initiating evacuation.
Assessing The Situation
Whether you’ve dispatched a monitor for hot work, a water outage, a sprinkler or alarm outage, a special event, or any other high fire risk scenario—the first step is assessing the situation.
This includes, but is not limited to:
- Assessing the increased fire risk.
- Positioning suppression equipment.
- Ensuring exits are clear.
- Learning evacuation routes.
- Determining patrol frequency.
- Determining patrol duration.
- Identifying internal points of contact.
Hot Work Hazards
Cutting, welding, grinding, and other hot work present a range of ignition risks. Your temporary fire watch identifies and removes flammable and combustible materials, or covers them with fire blankets. This includes cleaning supplies, paper, wood scraps, sawdust, and more.
- Sparks and slag can travel 35+ feet, especially if they pass through vents, doors, pipes, or cracks in the floors and walls.
- The high heat of hot work can conduct through metal surfaces, travelling through walls, floors, bulkheads, and more.
- Sparks, slag, and residual heat may take 30 to 60 minutes to ignite, which is why monitoring must continue for at least 30 minutes after work is complete.
System Failure Hazards
When plumbing, fire sprinklers, or fire alarm systems are down temporarily, monitoring provides compliance, safety, and peace of mind. Peace of mind shouldn’t be underestimated, as your employees, guests, and tenants rely on you to prioritize their health, safety, and well-being.
In addition to patrolling and logging for fire, your monitor is trained to detect other hazards, including odorous risk indicators:
- A sulfur or rotten egg smell is an indication of a gas leak.
- A general burning smell could indicate fire before smoke or flames ignite.
- A burning rubber or plastic smell could indicate an electrical fire.
- Acrid or chemical vapors could indicate that chemicals or flammable materials have ignited or are above temperature.
Read More:
- New Construction Fire Safety Beyond Fire Suppression Systems
- Why Dispatch Dual-Trained Fire Watch Security Guards
- 4 Times to Dispatch Daily Fire Watch
- Server Room Fire Watch in Denver
Special Event and Special Circumstance Hazards
Concerts, fairs, festivals, and large private or public events are subject to different compliance requirements. Industries with high-risk chemicals and operations, or vulnerable populations (hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living, etc.) also have different compliance requirements.
- Large events typically require both security guards and fire guards.
- Large buildings, campuses, and facilities require additional monitors.
- Deliveries during special events temporarily block exits and entrances.
- Evacuating large crowds creates bottlenecks that slow evacuation.
- Sick, injured, and vulnerable populations take longer to evacuate.
Temporary Fire Watch in Denver and The Springs
Scout Security dispatches temporary fire watch services in Denver and Colorado Springs. Our team is trained and certified in fire detection, suppression, and response. This includes maintaining compliant fire logs and continuous communication with your team.
Pre-schedule our services or dispatch us 24/7 when emergencies arise!
