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6.C. - Page 18 of 35 DISCUSSION 1. Fire departments' primary functions Fire departments have three primary functions: (a) fire suppression, (b) other emergency responses (primarily for medical emergencies), and (c) fire prevention. Suppression refers to putting out fires that have already started. This entails deployment of fire engines and firefighters that are highly visible to the public and garner significant attention. Interestingly, actual fire suppression accounts for only a small percentage of fire department emergency responses (approximately 3.4 percent in 2016).14 Responses to medical emergency calls, which involve responses by suppression personnel and equipment, accounted for approximately 64 percent of all 2016 emergency responses by fire departments in California.15 Prevention, in contrast, involves the low profile, day-to-day work of inspecting buildings for compliance with fire safety codes, reviewing plans for new building developments to ensure compliance with fire code requirements, on-site inspections of building construction to confirm that fire safety features are being installed per approved building plans, and investigating the causes of fires that do occur. Prevention functions within a fire department are usually managed by a Fire Marshal. 16 2. Necessary elements for carrying out required annual inspection programs The elements necessary for a fire department's performance of its required annual inspection obligations and, under SB 1205, their new reporting obligations, are as follows: • Written policies and procedures: Fire departments should have written policies and procedures in place that set forth: (a) how an inspection program is to be carried out, (b) staff responsibilities, (c) the specific inspection data that must be gathered and available for retrieval, (d) how performance of inspections is to be measured and reported, and (e) oversight and management processes for the inspection program. 17 • Lists of buildings required to be inspected: Fire departments need to have an up-to-date list of all of the buildings within their jurisdiction that must be inspected annually. Developing and maintaining such lists is time consuming and requires the investment of significant resources. In order to do so, fire department staff may review parcel lists, walk through neighborhoods to update the list, and review building permits or tax information to identify owners of apartment buildings. 18 14 2016 data from the U.S. Fire Administration/California Fire Loss/Fire Department Profile www.usfa.fema.gov/data/statistics/states/califomia.html. 15 2016 data from the U.S. Fire Administration/California Fire Loss/Fire Department Profile. www.usfa.fema.gov/data/statistics/states/califomia.html. The other incident types were: Good Intent 17.9 percent, False Alarms 6.5 percent, Service Calls 6.1 percent, Hazards 1.8 percent, Other 0.3 percent, Explosions 0.1 percent. The information does not total 100 percent due to rounding. 16 Grand Jury interviews. 17 Grand Jury interviews. 18 Grand Jury interviews. 2018-2019 San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury 4 107