Fire Watch

Printable Fire Watch In Progress Sign(PDF, 86KB)Printable Fire Watch Log(PDF, 32KB)Link to Email Daily Fire Watch Log

Why is Fire Watch being required

When a required fire alarm system is out of service for more than four hours in a 24-hour period the building shall be evacuated or an approved fire watch shall be provided.

What is Fire Watch

Fire watch is a temporary measure intended to ensure continuous and systematic surveillance of a building, or portion of the building, by a qualified building representative for the purpose of identifying and controlling fire hazards, detecting early signs of fire, activating an alarm and notifying the fire department in the event of a fire. This is required by the National Fire Protection Association’s NFPA 101 Life Safety Code.

During a fire watch, the building representative is responsible for:

  • Preventing a fire from occurring
  • Ensuring there are signs posted at every entrance to alert occupants of the fire watch
  • Verifying there are enough working fire extinguishers in the proper locations
  • Checking for potential fire ignition sources, such as improperly stored flammables
  • Extinguishing small fires
  • Notifying the fire department and building occupants in the event of an emergency

Patrol Frequency

  • 15 minutes (If people are sleeping, or if this is an institutional or occupied assembly occupancy)
  • and/or
  • 30-minutes (If none of the above conditions are present)

Reporting Method

Print and fill out the Fire Watch Log after each patrol. Email the completed form daily to fire@cityofames.org or use the link at the top of the page. 

 

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