Fire Suppression Division (Responsibilities)

Safety Division

The safety of the employees of the City of Miami is and always will be of utmost importance. The health and welfare of each member is a joint concern of the member, the chain of command, and this City. While each member is ultimately responsible for their own health, the City recognizes a responsibility to provide as safe a work place as possible. The goal of this program is to provide all members with the best available safety training and information currently available.

*NOTE* The scope and authority covered by the safety division is citywide. This responsibility includes 206 full and part-time employees with diverse job descriptions.

The City of Miami considers no phase of its operation more important than safety and health protection for their employees. We will provide, maintain, and establish safe working conditions. Each department must require its employees to practice safe work methods and procedures at all times.

Safety and health will be a vital part of all operations. The safety of all employees will be included in all phases of operational planning, development, production, and administration. Accidents have no place in the operations of the City of Miami.

We will strive to maintain safe and healthful working conditions, to adhere to proper operating practices and procedures designed to prevent injury and illness, and to comply with federal, state, local, and city safety and regulations.

Each level of management must reflect an interest in city safety and health objectives and is required to set a good example by always observing the rules as a part of the normal work routine. Management interest must be a vocal, visible, and continuous form of top management to departmental supervisors.

All employees will follow safe working practices, obey rules and regulations, and work in a way that maintains the high safety and health standards developed and accepted by the City of Miami.

We require that all employees make our safety and health program an integral part of their daily operations. That way the total elimination of accidents and injuries will become not just an objective, but a way of life.

The Safety Division Is Responsible For:

1. Maintaining safety and health expertise through training, reading, conferences, and use of outside experts.

2. Keeping informed of and being able to interpret laws and standards dealing with employee risk reduction in the City's illness and injury record keeping requirements.

3. Evaluating the safety program's effectiveness, thus ensuring a safe and healthful workplace.

4. Conducting inspections whenever new equipment, facilities, or materials are designed, purchased, used, or whenever new processes are designed.

5. Overseeing or assisting the establishment concerning the rules of safe work practices.

6. Assisting management in providing adequate materials for training of employees. It is our goal to provide several canned programs that the supervisors can use to provide instruction to their employees. 

7. Provide annual updates for specialized training, such as infection control, hazardous communications, confined space, etc.

Training Division

Training in a fire department is an essential part of daily operations. Similar to the military or an athlete, a large majority of our time is spent training and preparing for the battle. Efforts are made to identify weak areas and training is targeted to improve those areas. A certain amount of our training is required by the Department of Labor to insure that personnel have the necessary knowledge and skills to perform their job. The fire service is constantly evolving and the ways of doing business are changing. In addition the public has increased demands for additional services which in the past were not offered. All these changes require more new and improved training. Departmental training is primarily done in-house by an identified training officer, however each fire company does planning sessions on target occupancies within their jurisdiction. All personnel spend an average of 20 hours a month performing training. Miami Fire Department has also become one of the primary host agencies for training provided by the state training agency Oklahoma State University Fire Service Training (OSUFST). Being a host agency reduces the cost of sending personnel to a different city for specialized training. Presently at least 90% of our personnel have the required training for Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and FireFighter II (FFII) certifications. 

Fire Prevention Program

The Miami Fire Department has an aggressive fire prevention program addressing the many aspects of the fire prevention problem. Our fire education program has been expanded in recent years both in scope and outreach. Yearly fire inspections for commercial buildings are now an accepted part of the daily shift workload. In-house fire and arson investigations have resulted in several arrests over the last five years. Increased arson activity in the late 1980's led to the adoption of an arson watch program that targets suspect buildings and has led to the peaceful demolition of several derelict structures. We also have a program in place that provides free installation of smoke alarms for our elderly residents.

Fire Education

Miami's fire education program has grown from traditional fire drills at city schools to a full blown program reaching children throughout the county. During National Fire Prevention Week, children are bused in from all the schools in the county to see our fire clowns explain the ins and outs of fire safety. Their presentations are keyed to the age group of their audiences and elements are added or changed each year to keep the performance fresh. Fire drills are still staged at the schools and fire inspections are conducted both before school starts in the fall and while school is in session. Interaction with the children is encouraged and many of the men volunteer for work in other school programs, such as the school reading program in which uniformed firefighters read to the younger children.

Camp Bandage

This is our newest program aimed at children. With the addition of our rescue unit and the new emphasis on emergency medical training, we decided to add an element on first aid to our fire education program. This program stresses the importance of safety and shows the results of carelessness. The children are taken through an abridged first aid and CPR class and then witness a drill staged by the fire department and other area emergency responders. A version of this program is also presented to high school students shortly before prom week.

Kiwanis Smoke Detector Program

The Miami Fire Department supplies manpower for the installation and maintenance of smoke detectors in homes for people unable to obtain them. Most of the people taking advantage of this program are the elderly. We also stress the importance of smoke detectors during our skits presented during fire prevention week. Many detectors have been installed in homes as the result of children telling parents of our offer of free detectors. Many parents that are unwilling to buy and/or install detectors for their families have no qualms about asking for free installation. If the detector can save the lives of their children, we are more than willing to provide it.

K.I.D.S. Program

This program, again under the sponsorship of the Kiwanis, provides smoke detectors to be placed in the home of any newborn child whose parents request one.

Fire and Arson Investigation Division

Our fire investigation office is staffed by one fire investigator who also works on shift in fire suppression. Any time there is a suspicious fire or the officer in charge is unable to determine the fire cause, the investigator is called in to ascertain the cause and origin of the fire. In the event of an arson fire he works closely with the police and the state fire marshal's office to learn the identity of the arsonist and bring charges against them. He also acts as a liaison with the insurance companies and advises them of the fire department findings. He is a member of the Oklahoma chapter of the International Association of Arson Investigators, the Fire Marshals Association of Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Arson Advisory Council, and is a graduate of the Oklahoma State University's Cause and Origin and Arson Investigation Program.

Arson Watch

The arson watch program targets special hazards and buildings that are deemed to be "at risk" for an arson fire. The criteria for inclusion on the watch list takes into consideration structures that are in a "run down" or derelict condition, buildings long vacant or that have been on the market and remain unsold for a long time. When a building meets these guidelines, ownership is determined and an effort is made to contact the owner and ascertain plans for the buildings future. If progress is not assured, the building is "red tagged" as an arson risk and a letter is sent to the owner apprising him of our concern and offering any help that we may provide. Since the inception of this program, no building so tagged has burned.

Juvenile Firesetter / Arson Prevention

No in-house juvenile firesetter program has been adopted, but the local Department of Human Services has counselors that work closely with our investigator and the county district attorney on juvenile firesetter cases.

City Webmaster
Web Design by S.A. Work Co.