During the winter months, lights and candles get lit to brighten up our homes for the holidays. Unfortunately, this is also the time of year when the fire department responds to more fires involving candles and holiday lights.

Be mindful of your candles and festive lights this holiday season and take a few steps to ensure your holidays are joyful and safe.

Be Safe with Candles

More than half of all candle fires start when combustible materials (such as drapes, clothing, and bedding) are too close to the candle. December is the peak month for candle fires and roughly 1/3 of all candle fires started in the bedroom.

Consider using battery-operated flameless candles, which can look, smell and feel like real candles.

If you use candles:

• Extinguish all candles when leaving a room or before going to sleep.
• Put candles in sturdy metal, glass, or ceramic holders.
• Place lighted candles where they won’t be knocked over by children, pets or anyone else.
• Keep burning candles away from items that can catch on fire such as furniture, drapes, bedding, carpets, books, paper, etc.

How to handle those holiday lights

• Avoid overloading electrical outlets for both indoor and outdoor lights.
• Limit connecting of holiday lights to 3 strands.
• Do not use frayed, broken or worn string lights.
• Use low wattage mini lights at 2.5-watts or energy efficient LED bulbs, which operate at a cool-to-the-touch temperature.
• Always unplug tree lights before leaving home or going to sleep.

And finally, make sure your smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms are working. To learn more about the Seattle Fire Department’s free smoke/CO alarm program visit us online or email fireinfo@seattle.gov or call 206-386-1337.

The Seattle Fire Department wishes you very safe and happy holidays!

The boxes are arriving!

The Seattle Fire Department is collecting toys as part of the annual Marine Corps’ annual Toys for Tots drive. We have been part of this community tradition for more than 50 years and are pleased to be involved again this year.

Now through Sunday, Dec. 8, the public can drop off new and unwrapped gift items at most fire stations and the department’s administrative offices across the city. (Fire Station 31 is closed; donations are being accepted at neighboring stations.)

Looking for gift ideas?

Teens and children under two years old usually receive the least number of donated gifts. Organizers suggest that clothes and diapers in sizes for newborns through 36 months are always welcome for the youngest recipients. Teens appreciate gift cards they can use to purchase music, clothes or other items.

Thank you for making Toys for Tots part of your holiday tradition. We look forward to seeing you!

(Note: if crews are responding to an emergency, personnel may not be at the station to accept donations. We apologize if that should happen.)

Beginning in 2020, the Seattle Fire Department’s Fire Prevention Division will begin writing citations for overcrowding, blocked exits and unsafe conditions at Seattle night clubs and event venues.

The Seattle Fire Department (SFD) inspects nightlife and event venues to promote an environment that is safe for employees and patrons. Some violations at nightclubs pose a significant and immediate threat to life safety. On January 1, 2020, the City will introduce a citation of $373 when Fire Prevention Officers observe unsafe conditions at the time of inspection:

• Overcrowding or admittance of any person beyond the approved capacity of a building, room or space.
• Exiting; not maintaining reliability of means of egress (ex: blocked exits, pathways, doors).
• Unsafe conditions that involve illegal or improper occupancy or inadequate maintenance, or that are otherwise dangerous to human life or public welfare.

Additionally, nightclubs and event venues will receive citations for preventable alarms (two or more preventable alarms in a quarter of a calendar year) and failure to test and maintain fire protection systems (within the legally prescribed timelines).

Stakeholder communication: SFD prefers to educate building owners and managers about fire code requirements, working to achieve voluntary compliance. In general, when violations are discovered, inspectors will first issue a correction notice with information and a timeline for remedying the issue.

Penalties: Beginning on January 1, 2020, the penalty for fire code citations is $373 for the first violation and $746 for each subsequent violation in a 12-month period, except citations for preventable alarms which have a penalty range depending on the number of preventable alarms transmitted (read more).

Resources to avoid violations: The most important step to take for avoiding citations is ensuring employees understand and do not allow overcrowding or blocked exits. Additional information about fire safety inspections in nightlife venues and how to prepare for a successful inspection can be found on SFD’s website.

For more information, please visit our website or contact the Fire Prevention Division at SFD_FMO_SystemsTesting@seattle.gov.

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To ensure fire protection systems – like sprinklers and fire alarms – work properly, the Seattle Fire Department’s (SFD) Fire Prevention Division is launching a new initiative in 2020. The City is introducing citations of $373 or greater beginning January 1, 2020 for untested or unrepaired fire protection systems.

Sprinklers, fire alarms and suppression systems are among the most important components of any building for saving lives and protecting property in the event of a fire. These systems must be regularly tested and maintained by certified technicians to ensure they work when needed. However, too many buildings in Seattle have untested or unrepaired fire protection systems.

Background: Fire protection systems help preserve lives, protect property and enhance firefighter safety. Many buildings in Seattle have appropriately maintained fire protection systems. However, there are thousands of buildings with untested or unrepaired fire protection systems in Seattle.

The Seattle Fire Code requires the “responsible party” of a building to maintain their systems in good working condition and test their systems annually. The “responsible party” is the building owner, building management company, or lease-designated person.

Fire protection systems testing – also called confidence testing – is performed by private sector technicians holding SFD certifications, or by qualified personnel as specified in the Seattle Fire Code.

Stakeholder communication: SFD has worked to notify building owners to encourage them to voluntarily comply, making over 50,000 attempted contacts by letter, phone, email and in-person in the past 12-months.

Penalties: Beginning January 1, 2020, SFD will write citations when fire protection systems are not maintained or when the companies performing the testing fail to submit testing and maintenance reports to SFD within the required timeframes. The first citation will be $373. For failure to test or maintain fire protection systems, the citation is written to the building owner/responsible party. For failure to timely report testing and maintenance, the citation is written to the company performing the testing.

Resources to help building owners:

• SFD will send a 30-day reminder notice before a system is due for testing, and another notice when it is past due, or when deficiencies have been found. To help customers transition to the new program, the Fire Marshal will not issue a citation on the first inspection at the property, during the initial implementation phase. However, if SFD re-inspects and the violation has not been resolved, the citation will be written.
• SFD Client Assistance Memorandum #5971 Testing of Fire Protection Systems and Emergency Responder Radio Amplification Systems provides information about selecting a company to perform the testing.
• If affirmative steps are taking to address violation(s), SFD may be able to extend compliance timelines.

Resources to help inspection, testing and maintenance companies:

• SFD sends quarterly statistics on company’s report submittal timelines so the data is available to compare the company’s performance against the legally required submittal times.
• To provide a “grace period” and help customers transition, the Fire Marshal will issue one citation per testing company during the first quarter of 2020, instead of one citation per late report.

For more information, please visit our website or contact the Fire Prevention Division at SFD_FMO_SystemsTesting@seattle.gov.

To help prevent fires and keep people safe, the Seattle Fire Department’s (SFD) Fire Prevention Division is launching a new initiative in 2020 for avoiding “false” or “preventable” alarms. The City is introducing citations of $373 or greater beginning January 1, 2020 for preventable alarms.

When a fire alarm system is activated, the fire department is notified directly or indirectly through an alarm monitoring company. Firefighters respond to the location, and if they find no danger or active fire, it is classified as a preventable alarm.  Each year, the department responds to over 5,000 preventable alarms in Seattle, accounting for approximately 1 of 3 fire calls received by dispatchers at the Fire Alarm Center. Preventable alarms take firefighters out of service, making them unavailable to respond to true emergencies.

Background: The large number of preventable alarms reduces our ability to protect property and preserve lives for all who live, visit and work in Seattle. For this reason, the City is introducing a new citation penalty for preventable alarms. The intent is to encourage maintenance and needed modification of alarm systems and discourage careless acts that result in alarm activation. As a result of this initiative, the availability of fire department resources to respond to true emergencies is expected to improve.

Preventable alarms include:

• Any activation of a fire alarm system that results in notification to SFD of an event of fire that leads to a response by SFD when no such danger exists.
• All activations when there is no fire, when such activations are caused by mechanical failure or malfunction due to insufficient or improper testing and maintenance, accidental activation, malicious activation, or misuse, by any person, including persons who sell, install, maintain, test, or monitor fire alarm systems.
• Does not include activations caused by weather conditions, telephone problems, water surges, water hammers, or natural disasters.

Penalties: There is no penalty for the first preventable alarm during a calendar year quarter, for a total of up to four waived alarm penalties each year for every building. Thereafter, penalties are $373 for 2-5 violations in the same quarter of a calendar year, or $746 for 6-8 violations in a quarter, or $900 for 9 or more violations in a quarter. Citations will generally be written to the building owner.

Resources to help you reduce preventable alarms: SFD has prepared information about the most frequent sources of preventable alarms and steps you can take to reduce them. Please see Client Assistant Memorandum #5970 Preventable Fire Alarms or “False Alarms”.

For more information, please visit our website or contact the Fire Prevention Division at SFD_FMO_SystemsTesting@seattle.gov.

Beginning Today, Specially Trained Team of Firefighters and A Social Worker Will Help People Downtown with Behavioral Health or Substance Abuse Issues, Non-Emergency Medical Issues, and Access to Services 

Mayor’s 2020 Proposed Budget Being Considered by City Council Would Enhance Health One in Mid-2020 with Additional $400,000 Investment

SEATTLE (November 4, 2019) – Mayor Jenny Durkan, Fire Chief Harold Scoggins, and Councilmember Sally Bagshaw today helped launch Seattle’s new “Health One” unit into service to help address non-emergency 911 calls downtown. Beginning today, the Health One unit, which is staffed with a team of specially trained Seattle Fire Department (SFD) firefighters and a civilian social worker, will help people with non-emergency 911 requests for issues like substance abuse, non-emergency medical issues, and a need to access services.

The team will provide alternatives to transporting individuals to emergency departments, allowing SFD units to focus on emergencies like structure fire and vehicle collisions.

“We are taking an important step for a healthier downtown. As our city grows, our ability to deliver emergency and non-emergency responses needs to keep up. Here in Seattle, we pioneered Medic One, which became the gold standard in emergency health response and now we are pioneering Health One for non-emergency cases,” said Mayor Durkan. “Thank you to Councilmember Sally Bagshaw for her vision and leadership in making this pilot a reality. And as always, thank you to the members of the Seattle Fire Department for all they do to serve our communities.”

In 2018, 42 percent of SFD’s medical calls were deemed “low acuity” calls. These calls dispatched an SFD unit and generally resulted in no action or a non-emergency transport by an ambulance provider to a hospital’s emergency department. 

Many of the low acuity calls received by SFD are related to homelessness, mental health, social needs, drug and alcohol use and chronic medical issues. These are healthcare needs that a typical emergency medical response unit is not well equipped to address. SFD can now look beyond the traditional method of transporting patients to an emergency room, and connect them with the appropriate services.

The department has designated a vehicle that will serve as the Health One unit and be stationed at SFD Headquarters at 2^nd Ave. and Main St. The unit will operate from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Thursday, responding to calls in the downtown core and adjacent neighborhoods, to include Capitol Hill.

“The two firefighters and civilian social worker we’ve assigned to this unit have received in-depth specialized training on how to address the needs of the patients served by Health One. They are equipped with the resources necessary to provide patients with individually tailored services and diversion options,” said Fire Chief Harold Scoggins.

Referral and transport resources will include urgent and primary care, next day appointments, connection with behavioral health organizations, referral to homeless outreach and shelters, case management within SFD’s High Utilizer and Vulnerable Adult programs and more. In addition to standard emergency medical services equipment, the vehicle is also equipped with outreach supplies for unsheltered clients.

“This pilot program is designed to improve both the patient outcome and reduce wear & tear on our first responders.  I am grateful to Fire Chief Scoggins, our fire fighters and all who help us keep our community healthy,”said Councilmember Bagshaw.   

“This program will allow the Seattle Fire Department to work efficiently and focus our limited resources on true emergencies – including structure fires, vehicle accidents, gas leaks, hazardous materials spills, urban search and rescue, and life-threatening medical emergencies, just to name a few. At the same time, it will also allow our firefighters to work in partnership with social service agencies to provide the best care possible for all the residents of Seattle,” said Seattle Firefighters Local 27 President Kenny Stuart.

As part of her 2020 Proposed Budget, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan proposed investing an additional $400,000 in mid 2020 to enhance the Health One program. Councilmember Bagshaw allocated $475,000 to the Seattle Fire Department in the 2019 budget, and SFD allocated an additional $25,000 for the program. This brings the total to $900,000, which is funded for a full year.

The Seattle Fire Department is also the recipient of an Innovation Funding award from the King County Accountable Community of Health, HealthierHere. This award, for $300,00, will fund program research and analysis support, an additional case manager, and specialized case management software.

The department’s Mobile Integrated Health program manager will closely monitor responses of the Health One unit, and adapt as necessary to improve the patient experience and outcomes of individuals who access the 911 system for non-emergency complaints.

SFD has worked extensively with other City and County partners to research and complement existing programs already in place, such as the Seattle Police Mobile Crisis Unit and County-supported Mobile Crisis Team. The City’s Emergency Response Interdepartmental Team, which consists of SFD, Human Services Department, Seattle Police Department and Public Health Seattle-King County, continues to assess how the City can best address the needs of the people who most frequently utilize the City’s emergency response system, and how interventions might mitigate challenges faced by emergency responders when engaging with frequent utilizers. 

Daylight Saving Time comes to an end this weekend. Now is a good time to make sure that your smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms are working by testing them and replacing batteries if needed. Don’t wait until your alarm begins to “chirp” at an inconvenient time before deciding to change the batteries. Do it now!

Changing smoke and CO alarm batteries at least once a year is one of the easiest and most effective ways to reduce home fire deaths and CO poisoning. In fact, working smoke alarms can cut the risk of dying in a home fire by nearly one-half by providing an early warning and critical extra seconds to escape. Consider installing a long-life battery powered smoke/CO alarm to avoid yearly battery replacements.

Seattle homeowners who identify as seniors, have a disability or live on a low income may qualify for a free smoke/CO alarm with long-life battery from the Seattle Fire Department. If you rent or live outside of Seattle and need new smoke alarms, contact the American Red Cross or your local fire department.

Nearly 40 women interested in pursuing a career in Emergency Medical Services (EMS) or serving their community as a firefighter or paramedic attended the ‘Future Women in EMS and Fire’ workshop in Seattle on Oct. 26 and 27.

The King County Fire Chiefs Association and King County EMS are committed to improving diversity in fire departments and EMS, and are actively recruiting women to join the workforce. The goal of this two-day workshop, which was designed by women for women, is to educate, clarify, and provide support for women in the hiring process.

Workshop participants spent a weekend exploring the world of fire and EMS, learning CPR and firefighting tasks, watching demonstrations and participating in hands-on training. Participants heard from women from various agencies around the county during discussion panels.

Workshops are held biannually at designated locations throughout King County. Over 70 women from the region have participated in past workshops, some of whom are now working full-time in this career.

The Seattle Fire Department hosted the October workshop. Women firefighters and paramedics from Shoreline Fire Department, King County Medic One, Redmond Fire Department, Renton Regional Fire Authority, Valley Regional Fire Authority, Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority, Tukwila Fire Department, Bothell Fire Department and Kirkland Fire Department volunteered their time to work at the event.