Schools still flunking fire safety reviews

Advertiser Staff

More than 40 public and private schools on O'ahu failed their most recent annual fire inspection, a statistic that has changed little since last year.

Board of Education Safety Inspectors, from left, Louis Marrero, Thomas Bello and Newton Lyman check electrical outlets at Highlands Intermediate School. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

Two hundred public and private schools passed the fire safety inspections conducted last fall, according to Honolulu Fire Department records. The number of schools with unsatisfactory assessments is nearly the same as the previous year's 43 schools.

While school and fire officials have worked to address violations, and schools know when the inspections will be, inspections turn up the same types of problems each year: overloaded electrical outlets, improperly stored materials and blocked exits.

"For our inspectors to go to a school year after year, it's frustrating," said Battalion Chief Lloyd Rogers of the fire prevention bureau. "We see the same violations over and over."

While the Honolulu Fire Department can point out fire code violations in Hawai'i public schools, it cannot cite or fine the schools for not abiding by the code. State law stipulates that a city or county entity cannot cite a state-level agency or department to maintain fire code standards.

"We even checked and got an opinion from the state (attorney general's) office, which said we cannot force a state entity to comply with the fire code," said Honolulu Fire Chief Attilio Leonardi. "All we can do is give the public schools the inspection report, and they make the changes promptly."

Fire officials have to count on school principals not wanting to have their campus identified as being out of compliance.

Rodney Goo, school safety management program coordinator with the Department of Education, said safety and security managers on most public middle and high school campuses this year should help reduce violations .

The managers, mostly retired police and fire officials, are supposed to help schools with crisis management and response plans, train school security guards, investigate school crimes, counsel students and serve as a liaison to local law enforcement. This week, as part of their training at Highlands Intermediate School, they've been brushing up on how to conduct fire and building code inspections as well.

Goo said the safety and security managers should do their own inspections throughout the year and make the school and DOE aware of fire code violations.

The pilot program was expanded this year to 48 campuses.

"My vision is to have the fire safety program working all year long," Goo said. "We want to have it documented. I think it's going to be safer."

Schools that have the managers will be expected to pass the fire code inspections, Goo said.

Fire officials formerly gave schools time to fix problems and receive a passing grade. But they stopped that practice last year.

"We decided that after so many years — 10-plus years of being in effect — they should have had everything together by now," said Battalion Chief Rogers.

He said schools generally fix minor, low-cost problems immediately, but cannot correct major problems such as faulty fire alarms. "There's certain things they can't do until they have money to do it," Rogers said. "I think the most common one is where they have power strips plugged into extension cords plugged into another extension cord. They've got their microwave and coffee pots all in one plug. Then they have to go through (the Department of Accounting and General Services) to install more outlets."

Newton Lyman, a retired Big Island police officer who is safety manager at Hilo High School, said it can be difficult to convince people that small violations matter.

"These small things are the things that can burn a house down in three minutes," Lyman said. "Imagine what it can do in a school with students in it. People think we're nitpicking. We're just trying to create a safe environment."

The safety managers cannot enforce the fire code, either. They can only make the principals aware of problems and how to fix them.

"We're there as a resource," said Paul Pomroy, a retired Kaua'i firefighter who will be safety manager at Chiefess Kamakahelei School next year. "We hope the principals will respect that and want to work together."

Mililani High, the public school with the highest number of violations, had 66 infractions including faulty fire alarm systems and exit lights. Mililani High vice principal Jim Petersen has said nearly all the violations were corrected since the fall inspection.

"Our students' safety is definitely our top priority," Petersen said.

Capt. Carl Lorenzo of the HFD's fire prevention bureau said the school inspections issue only a passing or failing grade.

"It's all or nothing, so say if one out of 100 fire extinguishers is faulty, that school will get a failing grade unless that violation is corrected," he said. "It's a high standard, but we have to make sure someone doesn't get injured because of a fire code violation."

Hawai'i is not the only state with fire safety problems in its schools. Nationally, many aging campuses and a shortage of money for education make it common for schools to fall out of compliance with local fire codes.

There are few instances of fire officials fining or closing schools. One exception was in 1996 in Washington, D.C., when a Superior Court judge ordered the city's schools closed for a month while buildings were brought into compliance with fire codes.

Kenneth Trump of National School Safety and Security Services, said loss of education funding has cut into money for fire prevention.

"Certainly, a fire would be one of the most basic emergencies," Trump said. "I would like to think that in today's world, where we talk about lock-down drills and shelter in place, that fire preparedness is something we've mastered. We can't forget the basics."

Locally, fire officials say larger school campuses usually end up with more violations. Mililani High is a 45-acre campus with 37 buildings. Pearl City High, which had 61 infractions, has 25 buildings.

Among private schools, the vast Kamehameha Schools campus had 156 violations.

And while many of the fire code violations can be rectified quickly — such as obstructed fire exits or replacing the batteries in a fire exit sign — fire officials say major infractions such as broken alarm systems and servicing fire hoses and extinguishers can take time and money.

Petersen and Mililani High School principal Robert Ginlack note that many older campuses lack electrical outlets to power computers and modern technology. Teachers are forced to "piggyback" outlets, plugging too many computers and appliances into power strips or extension cords.

"We totally agree with the need for fire safety, but the teachers also ask us, 'How can we teach if we don't have enough outlets?' " Ginlack said.

Richard Soo, a former Honolulu Fire Department captain, now works with the DOE on fire safety. He said the schools are making steady progress in meeting the fire codes. As older schools undergo renovation, piggyback wiring should diminish, he said.

Deputy Attorney General Holly Shikada said the state Department of Education and individual schools are responsible for following up on fire code violations. The Attorney General's office does not enforce the county fire codes, she said.

Sandy Goya, a Department of Education spokeswoman, said each school is initially responsible for taking action, although the DOE ultimately makes sure violations are addressed.

In addition to the fire department inspections, Goya said all schools have a working school safety committee that identifies fire safety issues and makes sure they are dealt with.

"The schools are responsible for identifying the violations and correcting them first, internally, and those would be minor repairs and maintenance (items) that they can address," Goya said.

To find out if a particular campus passed its most recent fire inspection, call the DOE's safety and security services section at 586-3457.