Fire Prevention

Fire Prevention and Hazardous Materials Safety


The first priority of the Fire Prevention Section of the Orange City Fire Department is to prevent loss of life and property, and to prevent damage to the environment. The second goal is to build safety into buildings and processes, in order to contain or limit the spread of a potential emergency.

The activities of the Fire Prevention Section can be classed into 1) Environmental Safety and 2) Fire and Life Safety. Environmental Safety encompasses vegetation management, hazardous materials disclosure, and underground storage tanks. Fire and Life Safety includes planning and development, annual occupancy inspections, special events permitting, and fire cause investigation.
 
  1. Fire Investigation
  2. High Rise Program
  3. Plan Review
  4. Special Events Permits
  5. State Licensed Facilities
  6. Vegetation Management
  7. Fire Inspection Clearance Form

Integral to Prevention and Suppression of Fires

Fire/Arson Investigation is an integral component of community risk reduction, along with prevention and suppression of fires. Beyond its tremendous value of investigating fires, which is detailed below, this unit increases the efficiency of the fire department by reducing the frequency of intentional false calls to the department. Reducing false alarms allows the fire crews to stay available for genuine fire, medical, and other emergency response. The Unit also pursues potentially fraudulent private sector fire inspections.


Duties

The Fire/Arson Investigation Unit is responsible for investigating and determining the cause and origin of suspicious fires involving death or injury, and fires of undetermined origin.


Other duties include:

  • Arresting suspects and filing criminal charges as required with District Attorney's office.
  • Collecting and maintaining all evidence.
  • Conducting and documenting interviews with witnesses and/or suspects.
  • Performing and assisting with environmental crime investigations as needed.
  • Responsible for supervising the Juvenile Fire-setting Intervention Program.
  • Writing/filing investigation reports.