It is essential that all personnel assigned to a station jail be familiar with fire and life safety hazards and the precautions and procedures to follow to mitigate and manage an incident. At least one Department employee trained per the standards established by the State and Local Fire Marshal for general fire and life safety, shall be on duty at all times. While each station has its own individual physical characteristics and needs, the elements common to all station jails will be addressed in this manual.
Some common elements of concern are: fuel storage, firearms and munitions, chemical agents, PCP and toxic precursor presence, batteries stored in communications equipment rooms, fuse storage, bedding and building materials that may generate toxic gases if burned, et cetera.
These concerns dictate the following items be considered in the event of a fire or other emergency situations:
Unit commanders shall ensure that their facility is inspected by the local fire station at least semi-annually and whenever major facility modifications occur. Additionally, the Los Angeles County Fire Department Institutional Inspection Detail shall conduct a yearly inspection.
These inspections shall be recorded as required in this manual. Unit commanders shall coordinate with their local fire station to participate in the preparation of the pre-fire response plans, which are maintained at the fire station. A copy of the pre-fire response plans shall be maintained in the station.
A copy of each inspection report, prepared by fire department personnel, shall constitute the basis for any corrective action or work orders indicated, and shall be indefinitely maintained at the unit.
In conjunction with the semi-annual inspections by local fire station representatives (as required by CDM section 3-14/070.00, "Fire Prevention and Suppression"), unit commanders shall coordinate a fire evacuation drill in conformance with their unit's existing evacuation plan. The concerned region's commander shall observe and evaluate at least one of these semi-annual drills.
In the event a station is unable to continue normal operations due to fire damage, each unit commander shall establish the necessary communications with the appropriate telephone company to reroute all incoming calls to an adjacent Sheriff's facility or other alternate site for dispatching purposes.
Unit commanders shall ensure that prohibitions against the use of padded cells, urethane mattresses and smoking or the possession of matches in the jail areas are rigidly enforced.
Each station shall develop and practice a facility evacuation plan. The following is a list of common areas of concern that must be treated in any evacuation plan. This is not intended to be an all-encompassing list, but rather a guide for preparing station specific evacuation plans. It is the unit commander’s responsibility to designate the individual post position responsible for carrying out the tasks identified:
A. Fire Discovery/Alarm
1. Immediate notification to the desk
a. Indicate location and nature of fire
2. Desk - immediately notify Fire Department
a. Indicate location and nature of fire
b. Indicate desired response location (i.e., front door, jail, etc.)
3. Desk - notify watch commander
4. Desk - assign employee to meet responding Fire Department personnel
B. Employee Area Evacuation
1. Designate who authorizes evacuation
2. Public address announcement
a. State reason for evacuation and give evacuation routes
3. Notification to Sheriff's Communication Center
a. Advise designated field units to respond to station
4. Establish roll-call personnel accounting system
5. Communication with field units
a. Designate how and by whom
6. Perimeter and security patrols
a. Designate detail supervisor
7. Reentry
a. Establish protocol for authorization
b. Fire Department concurrence
8. First Aid - medical treatment
a. Designate a location as a triage area
b. Establish access for ambulance, triage area, etc.
C. Follow-Up Responsibilities
1. Department notifications
a. Sheriff's Information Bureau - Operations Log, Chief's Memorandum
b. Chain of command telephone notifications
c. Watch commander shall ensure notifications are made and logged
D. Miscellaneous
1. Building floor plans
a. Designated locations of fire hoses, extinguishers, air packs, fire block, etc.
It is the responsibility of each unit commander to prepare an evacuation plan consistent with and adequately addressing the identified tasks. These plans shall be updated as necessary and shall be the subject of recurrent training for all assigned personnel.