At Ranger Guard, we aim to ensure safety and security at businesses all across the United States. With franchises in multiple states, we have experienced personnel ready to help you with whatever security you’re looking for. Whether it’s workplace security, K9 security, or a variety of other security services, we’ve got you covered. Learn more below about Fire Watch services.
What are Fire Watch Services?
Fire watch services monitor a property for fire. They are trained to spot early warning signs of fire, fire hazards, and active fires.
If a fire were to ever break out on your property, you need it dealt with as swiftly and professionally as possible. The last thing you need is slow monitoring and a bungled evacuation putting lives and property at risk.
Fire Watch staff are ready to alert the fire department and safely evacuate the premises in case of an emergency.
Typically water-based fire protection systems such as sprinklers will be activated in the event of a fire. Fire watch springs into action when these systems have failed and a temporary alternative plan is required. Fire Watch will remain in action until the systems are fixed.
What Fire Watch Guards Do
They patrol the designated area, ready to trigger fire alarms, alert the fire department and if necessary oversee an evacuation of the premises. They conduct patrols at least every 60 minutes of the relevant parts of your premises. They are trained to go door to door and check all areas of your site for trapped civilians in the event of an evacuation. Once fire marshals arrive on site they are trained to liaise with them regarding evacuation, fire progress, building layout, and anything else they need, and to offer any possible assistance.
Industry-specific fire watches are sometimes contracted to monitor construction or hot work, such as steel welding or industrial processes involving chemicals that have a greater risk of fire.
Why Companies Need Fire Watch
Fire is a serious risk that can be devastating to people and property. Businesses are legally required to take health and safety precautions to prevent fires and respond appropriately to protect staff and members of the public in the event of a fire. Insured or not, fires can ruin a business. In the worst cases, this can mean a significant loss of life or total bankruptcy. A responsible business owner will want to do anything they can to avoid such a catastrophe.
Pulling staff off their regular duties can cause significant backlogs, delays, and complications in other spheres of your business. Having a dedicated fire watch service also means your employees can focus on doing their jobs to the best of their ability and do not have to worry about safety concerns.
Hiring a dedicated fire watch service from a licensed security company will take the stress out of this aspect of workplace safety. It also means that the fire watch will be highly trained, dedicated, and focused on preventing and responding to fire-based emergencies.
Having the right staff in place can go a long way towards preventing fire hazards as well as improving health and safety outcomes should an accident occur. A fully licensed and insured security company like Ranger Guard will be able to provide top-level service with discretion at a reasonable price point.
Fire Watch And The Law
In the United States fire watch is regulated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). OSHA places a responsibility on staff to take reasonable precautions against fire. These regulations include fire extinguishers, sprinkler systems, evacuation plans, and clearly signposted and accessible exits. The most basic requirement is that each business has to have a fire safety plan in place.
Fire watch security staff are required to ensure on-site safety where protection systems have failed. Fire watch staff do not legally have to be specialized external staff, they can be anyone on the team as long as they are trained.
State and local administrations place their own additional requirements on designated Fire Watch staff which vary significantly. Texas State law requires all security firms to hold licenses and the law is ambiguous as to whether fire watch is covered under these provisions. Hiring licensed fire watch officers from a reputable security company is the safest way to protect your business and liability risk. In Arizona, the municipality must provide the fire watch guard with specific written instructions on paper.
Each local municipality or county is empowered to set their own fire codes. Ranger Guard works closely with the local fire department in each district to keep our clients in compliance with the most updated version of the local fire code. Since fire code and fire safety enforcement varies between locality and staff may not know the relevant details, hiring an external fire watch service will ensure your business is in compliance.
All our licensed fire watch guards undergo rigorous specialty training before being deployed to protect the public.
The designated Fire Safety Watch agent on duty is legally responsible for alerting the fire department and evacuating the building where necessary. Ranger Guard takes that responsibility extremely seriously.
Ranger Guard’s Fire Watch Security Services
Ranger Guard provides highly qualified dedicated Fire Watch personnel to patrol the premises and keep watch for fires. They are trained to respond appropriately to fire-related emergencies.
These responses range from putting out fires with fire extinguishers where possible. If they encounter a fire they cannot put out Fire Watch personnel will immediately pull the fire alarm or use the public announcement system to tell anyone onsite to evacuate the building immediately.
They will notify the local fire department and liaise with the Fire Marshals once they arrive onsite. This includes giving them access to any restricted areas they need keys or codes to get into for fire safety purposes.
During regular patrols, fire watch guards will maintain a fire watch log. This fire log will record when and where patrols were carried out for the purposes of maintaining and proving compliance. Following the repair of relevant fire protection equipment, the fire log will be supplied to the local fire department. These patrols and logs differ from the standard foot patrol services offered by Ranger Guard. In foot patrol, our security officers log all patrols on our client portal to ensure customers are kept informed about what is happening on their property.
Because of the extreme importance of fire safety, Ranger Guard Fire Watch guards are trained to stay focused on the risk posed by fire hazards. They are not permitted to perform other duties while on Fire Watch patrol.
For other security services such as Ranger Guard’s foot patrol or signature mobile patrol service, contact us today.
What Industries Are Covered For Fire Watch Security?
Experienced Ranger Guard licensed fire watch guards are available to provide Fire Watch Services to any clients who need them.
Ranger Guard provides fire watch services to a range of industries including residential complexes, commercial facilities, industrial plants, construction sites, and more. Fire can strike any industry at any time, and fire protection systems can always fail.
Because Ranger Guard is a full-service security firm we tailor our offering to each specific client. Frequently clients who use us for security services will select us to provide fire watch protection in addition to our many other services. Find out more about Ranger Guard’s wide range of customizable security services here. We offer armed guards and unarmed security to protect your business, staff, and customers.
Why Choose Ranger Guard For Security Services
With over 15 years of experience in private security, Ranger Guard is an industry leader in keeping people safe. Ranger Guard prioritizes putting top-quality highly trained security professionals into the field to keep clients and the public safe.
We believe that taking security seriously saves lives and keeps your focus on your bottom line. We also believe that businesses are all different and don’t face the same security issues. We treat each client differently and offer a bespoke approach to security unmatched by our competitors.
We are also able to discuss potential fire watch plans to be used if needed in the future.
