GFFR proposing new special event permits under updated fire code
Fire officials in Great Falls are asking the City Commission to consider adopting more sections of the International Fire Code this year.
Great Falls Fire Rescue Chief Jeremy Jones told commissioners during a February meeting that the department has been working to take a more preventative approach to life safety.
One of those efforts to is to adopt a permitting section from the International Fire Code that the city had not previously adopted.
Jones said there had been a lawsuit at the state level over building codes and now that it’s wrapped up, the state can move forward with adopting the more recent version of the building codes and then move to adopting the newer version of the fire codes.
The state has only adopted the 2012 version of the fire code and Jones said that normally, governments need to be within a year of the current code, but Montana had a waiver for noncompliance due to the lawsuit.
Typically, the state adopts a version of the International Fire Code and then municipalities have the option to adopt the permitting section, Jones said.
The commission recently adopted ordinances for fire inspections and false alarms, which Jones said is a step in their efforts for a more effective city fire code on prevention.
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Jones said that GFFR’s resources are taxed during structure fires and the best approach is prevention.
Permits are part of prevention, he said.
“We’re very limited on what we can respond to in this community,” Jones told commissioners.
Permitting, as proposed by GFFR, would apply to things such as large assemblies like the Montana State Fair and the Home and Garden Show; open burning; pavilions/tents over 400 square feet; amusements, buildings such as haunted houses; carnivals and trade shows; fireworks and displays.
Permitting would allow the appropriate officials to be aware of projects and events and ensure public safety, Jones told commissioners.
Jones said a recent example of when permitting would have been helpful was when GFFR found out the night before that crews working at the new Love’s truck stop were planning to dynamite the bedrock. Jones said no one in the city knew and the project site is directly adjacent to the city’s dispatch center and utility pipelines.
There were also issues last spring when COVID protocols forced some event planners to move activities from indoors to large outdoor tents. There were conflicts over placement of the tents since Jones said they needed to take into account proper exits and access in the event of emergency.
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Most of the changes will involve educating the public, Jones said.
The permitting section of the International Fire Code is substantial, but GFFR is looking to add only those areas they consider necessary for life safety.
“We’re working to make it ft for our community,” Jones said.
Jones said the GFFR fire prevention bureau works with the city planning and community development department but there are areas in the building code that they can’t permit for and the permitting section of the fire code gives them the ability to fill those voids.
Jones said GFFR is primarily looking at permitting for large events and things not covered by building codes in the planning department.
Commissioner Joe McKenney asked why the permits for special events were needed since GFFR does annual inspections.
Fire Marshal Mike McIntosh said that the annual inspections are for venues and facilities and their primary uses, not for special events.
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As an example, McIntosh said that hotels are inspected annually as hotels. When they host a special event such as Western Art Week, that’s a significantly larger number of people in the building and would trigger an additional permit, if the new rules are adopted.
“We’re looking at doing this to make sure these events are held safely and we know in advance to ensure that safety,” McIntosh told commissioners.
He said the same venue might have to get permits for different events, depending on the size and the rules that are adopted.
Jones said that annual inspections don’t typically hold a hotel or facility to the level of accountability for a special event with larger numbers of people.
“That is over and above what we were there for initially,” he told commissioners. “It’s more than what the regular inspection is designed for.”
The new permitting code would also require inspections for mobile food vendors. Those requirements are in the 2018 and 2021 versions of the International Fire Code, but because the state has delayed those adoptions due to litigation at the state level.
“This is a question that’s been a long time coming,” McIntosh said of the mobile food vendor permits. Currently, they are regulated by health department rules and not city issued permits, unless they use parking spaces or city parks.
Commissioner Rick Tryon said that some will view the changes as a way for the city to make money and that they have to explain the safety components to the public.
Jones said that they have not yet created a fee structure for the proposed permits but that it would include an increase in GFFR staff.
“The important thing, a lot of these things are coming,” Jones said of the state adoption of the new fire codes. “They’re going to be held accountable by the state under the new code.”
Jones said if GFFR has permitting, they can help businesses and event organizers work through the process to ensure they don’t run into issues when they’re getting ready to open or start their events.
Jones said that the state will be implementing the newer rules eventually, so GFFR is trying to be proactive in preparing for the changes.
Jones said at the state level, there’s a deputy fire marshal, and the state adopts the building and fire codes and pushes it down to municipalities to decide what sections to adopt and to handle enforcement.
Jones said there isn’t staffing at the state level to go out and enforce fire codes in municipalities and their focus is primarily on schools.
Jones and McIntosh said that with the update code, if adopted by commissioners, GFFR could do enforcement and monitoring within the city limits.
