Fire Safety Laws

Throughout my 16 years as a firefighter/paramedic, I have witnessed many horrible incidents that have created sad memories and certain opinions. The recent destructive fires are among them.

I am amazed at the difficulty we have passing laws that ban wood roofs and the difficulty we have getting compliance from homeowners in clearing flammable brush from around their homes.

The California State Firemen’s Assn. and many other fire service organizations throughout the state have pushed for years for a ban on wood roofs in new construction, pushed to ban the private use of fireworks, pushed for laws to require the installation of residential sprinklers in new construction, pushed for laws that protect lives and property.

As a State Board of Fire Services leader, I can assure you that the effort will continue at the state and local levels. We are now having difficulty getting two legislative bills passed as we wrote them: AB 2666 by Assemblywoman Bev Hansen and SB 1830 by Sen. Cecil Green, which would have permitted local governments to pass building standards more restrictive than state law.

They have been amended to the dissatisfaction of the fire service and to the detriment of local control and fire safety.

DAN COFFMAN

President pro-tem

California State Firemen’s Assn.

Huntington Beach