Prevention
Lakeland Fire Department's Prevention Division
Fire Inspectors/ Investigators reviewing plans.
Fire Investigator carrying out a fire investigation to determine cause.
Fire Inspector/Investigator in action.
Preventing fires is just as important as fighting them. At the Lakeland Fire Department, that philosophy is front and center within the Prevention Division, led by Fire Marshal David Sutherland.
The personnel within Prevention interact with local businesses, architects, and contractors to ensure fire and life safety within the Lakeland community and compliance with fire codes. This interaction encompasses commercial plans review, inspections, and fire investigations.
Plans review for new commercial construction, modifications to existing commercial buildings, new fire protection systems, and modifications to existing fire protection systems is performed to ensure these facilities will meet fire codes, which protect the safety of all occupants, as well as meeting the access and water needs of fire suppression personnel. Once the plans are approved, the construction is allowed to begin, with inspections continuing throughout the construction phase by the Prevention Division. These inspections are conducted to verify approved plans were followed, all fire protection systems are correctly installed, and necessary function tests are performed. These inspections also ensure that no unapproved changes were made during the process and that conditions inside the building remain safe during the construction period.
Once construction is complete, fire inspections continue regularly to help business owners identify potential fire hazards and life safety concerns and ensure the building and any installed systems continue to meet fire and life safety codes. The Prevention Division is responsible for permitting and inspecting various items, such as tank installations and removals, food trucks, sparkler sales, fireworks displays, and pyrotechnics. Following up on false alarms and complaints and serving on the City of Lakeland Development Review Team are also responsibilities of the division. This division's responsibility is to enforce the extensive codes included in the Florida Fire Prevention Code to keep citizens, business owners, visitors, and emergency responders as safe as possible.
This division is also responsible for investigating all fires and fire-related incidents within the department's response area that have a suspicious or undetermined origin and cause, have a serious injury or death or have a significant dollar loss. To determine fire origin and cause, an examination and excavation of the fire scene are conducted. The fire scene is documented by the investigator. If the fire is deemed arson, the division contacts the Florida Department of Financial Services, Division of Investigative and Forensic Services, Bureau of Fire, and Arson Investigations to conduct the criminal investigation. Understanding a fire's cause is vital to the community's safety, so preventive measures may be strengthened and unlawful acts prosecuted.
The dedicated team, consisting of the Fire Marshal, one Fire Plans Examiner, two Fire Inspector II, three Fire Inspector I, and one Office Support Specialist II, works hard to provide the most comprehensive fire prevention program possible. An inspector covers one-quarter of the city, with the remaining inspector covering the airport and surrounding properties, the Lakeland Regional Health Medical Campus, the Lakeland Electric power plants, and also serves as the lead investigator. The five Inspectors and Plans Examiner rotate on-call for fire investigations.
The Prevention Division of the Lakeland Fire Department is responsible for ensuring the safety of the Lakeland community by preventing injuries, deaths, and property damage while improving the quality of life for citizens.