Every school year the fire department conducts school inspections and during the course of a school year the schools are required to have fire drills, tornado drills, and meet other safety standards.
 

It’s because of safety standards is the main reason that the fire department inspects schools. It is the schools responsibility to ensure that they conduct at least one fire drill every month, keep fire extinguishers fully charged and inspected once yearly, ensure all exits are unblocked, unlocked, and can be easily seen by a working lit exit sign.
 

Other things firefighters look for during a school inspection is cluttered storage rooms that may contain any type flammable liquid or power panels that may have stuff too close to the panel that would keep firefighters from reaching the power turn off.
 

The kitchen of a school is an area firefighter’s check really good especially because of the risk of fire in a kitchen area. Firefighters check the stove hood system for a inspection tag and the date on the tag. The stove hood is also checked for grease build up and the need for cleaning.
 

The first thing a ladder crew and its captain will do when they drive up into a schools property is look for fire plugs and fire connections. When the crew enters a school they report to the school office and speak with someone at the desk. One of the first things a fire captain will ask for is to see the schools fire drill record.

If the school has already done a fire drill for the month that’s a good thing and if they haven’t done a fire inspection the captain will want to know when they were planning on having a fire drill. If the school has not done a drill the fire captain will usually have the principal perform a fire drill before they inspect the school.

Ladder truck crews are responsible for conducting school inspections in the city of Mobile and this article was written to educate the public on things firefighters look for during school inspections.