Lake Charles firefighters gathering data to improve response
Last Modified: Thursday, June 07, 2012 1:38 PM
By Eric Cormier / American Press
Lake Charles firefighters are visiting businesses through August as part of an information-gathering effort that is supposed to assist them in responding to emergency calls.
Chief Wayne Rigmaiden, with the city’s Bureau of Fire Prevention, said a six-page packet will be taken to each business. That packet has specific questions about a structure’s history, design, owner, emergency contact information and emergency water systems and requests drawings based on its blueprint.
All the information will be loaded into a Fire Department database.
Once the visits are complete, district chiefs will be able to access the information and provide guidance to firefighters who respond to emergencies at the businesses, Rigmaiden said.
“And this ensures building familiarization,” he said. “That means when guys respond to an emergency call, they know what is in the building.”
Rigmaiden stressed that the visits from Fire Department employees are not inspections.
In order to visit each business, the fire department has scheduled 25 visits among the 15 district chiefs during two-week periods.
“This started on June 4 and will end Aug. 31,” Rigmaiden said.
Along with obtaining information, the pre-incident planning effort helps the city meet state fire-rating mandates.
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