Fire Protection Specialist it Takes

Fire Protection Specialist

It takes a special kind of person to be an effective fire protection specialist. It takes extensive knowledge and the ability to communicate well with others. The skills needed and knowledge requirements are strict and numerous and for good reason. Currently, fire protection specialists are charged with filling three major roles. These roles include fire inspector, fire plan examiner, and fire investigator. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is the organization that sets the minimum standards for these fields and the standards are carefully scrutinized before being adopted. Both NFPA 1031 and NFPA 1033 are specific sets of standards required to become certified in the areas of fire Inspector, plan examiner, and fire investigator. These standards define exactly what the roles and responsibilities of the fire protection specialist are.

According to the National Fire protection Association, the responsibilities of the fire inspector are numerous, but the basic functions of a level one fire inspector include "inspecting public, commercial, and residential structures for compliance with applicable laws" (NFPA 2009). In 1031 of NFPA, the guidelines, responsibilities, requisite knowledge, and required skills are spelled out in great detail. Suffice it to say that the 'core responsibilities include inspecting buildings for compliance with all applicable fire codes and laws, inspecting underground storage tanks, addressing complaints with inspections, identifying corrective actions, assisting in fire code interpretation, issuing fire code violations, and testifying in court regarding fire code violations' (NFPA 2009).

1031 of the National Fire Protection Association also addresses the functions and responsibilities of the plan examiner. The association identifies the core functions of the plan examiner as being "responsible for examining plans, fire protection system plans, and specifications for compliance with applicable fire code laws" (NFPA 2009). The duties of a plan examiner include ' preparing variances and appeals to be presented to the building standards commission, attending meetings with various professional involved in the building process to ensure compliance of the fire codes and laws, assisting the professionals in these fields upon request to ensure compliance, reviewing and evaluating all types of plans involved in the construction process with regard to fire code and building code life safety criteria, and responding to citizens inquiries regarding fire codes, laws, and life safety criteria' (NFPA 2009).

In 1033 of the National Fire Protection Association's guide, the responsibilities and details are defined for the fire inspector role. Essentially, it is the responsibility of this specialist to investigate the sources and causes of fires. To fulfill this role, it is the responsibility of the specialist to 'thoroughly examine the fire scene, document the scene completely, collect and preserve all evidence associated with a scene, conduct interviews and interrogations, provide post-incident investigation, and present findings to the appropriate institutions or persons' (NFPA, 1998). It is essential to fire prevention, protection, and safety to understand how fires are initialized and this is the job of the fire investigator.