Date: Fri 10-Jul-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

George-Lockwood-Fire-Marshal

Full Text:

Lockwood Becomes Town's First Full-Time Fire Marshal

(with cut)

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

George Lockwood of Sandy Hook has become the town's first full-time fire

marshal.

After having served as part-time fire marshal for several years, Mr Lockwood

assumed his full-time duties at the start of the 1998-99 fiscal year on July

1.

Mr Lockwood, who formerly worked in plain clothes, now wears a fire marshal's

uniform including a white fireman's hat as he performs his duties in the

$45,000-a-year position. He also now drives a town-owned marked red Ford

Explorer reserved for fire marshal duties. Formerly, he drove his own pickup

truck on the job.

Currently, the five local volunteer fire departments are housed in six

firehouses, providing fire coverage to central Newtown, Sandy Hook, Botsford,

Dodgingtown and Hawleyville.

As fire marshal, Mr Lockwood supervises three deputy fire marshals and a fire

inspector for the town, plus a special deputy fire marshal for Garner

Correctional Institution. Deputy fire marshals for the town are Bill Halstead,

Henry Stormer and Joseph Cavanaugh. Scott Lee is the fire inspector. David

Hardt is the special deputy fire marshal for Garner.

Although the designated work week for Mr Lockwood is 40 hours, he said he

expects he will be spending considerably more time than that on the job.

Fire marshals are responsible for the local enforcement of all fire safety

codes and for investigating the causes of fires. Fire marshals issue blasting

permits, inspect service stations and supervise the installation and removal

of residential, commercial and industrial underground fuel storage tanks.

Also, all locally-based heating fuel tankers are regularly inspected.

Land-use regulations approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission in 1996

require that subdivisions with three or more lots have at least 20,000 gallons

of water storage in a pond or underground storage tank for firefighting. The

fire marshal's office oversees the installation of such water storage

facilities.

Fire marshals also inspect all buildings with more than two residences for

fire safety, such as the presence of smoke detectors and adequate means of

exiting the building.

Dry cleaning establishments, as well as alcohol outlets, such as package

stores, restaurants and bars, are inspected for fire safety.

If any fireworks displays were held locally, the fire marshal's office would

be the agency to issue permits.

Mr Lockwood foresees an increase in local construction stemming from the

presence of the new municipal sewer system. Increased construction will lead

to increased fire marshal activity, he predicted.

The town has been responding to about 75 fire calls monthly, Mr Lockwood said.

"It keeps me busy," the fire marshal said Tuesday.

He said he expects the town gradually will make the transition from an

all-volunteer fire service to a combined volunteer/paid fire service, similar

to the arrangement used for fire protection in Danbury.

Unfortunately, the people who have become volunteer firefighters in the past

several years have tended to stay on as active members for shorter periods,

the fire marshal said. The new volunteers have tended to excuse themselves

from firefighting duties after realizing the amount of time required to be a

volunteer firefighter, he said.

Mr Lockwood expects that the uses to which Fairfield Hills is put in the

future will have a direct bearing on how rapidly the town's fire service makes

a transition from volunteers to paid firefighters.