Published: April 10, 2008 03:33 pm      

Fire marshal finds problems inside Rose Union portables

EDMOND — Some Rose Union Elementary students were placed in portable classrooms without the required state fire marshal inspections, The Edmond Sun has learned.

According to records made available by Deer Creek Public Schools’ Chief Operations Officer Richard Vrooman, students were attending classes in three portable buildings moved onto the school site in September. State fire marshal inspectors were not called to the school until early December.

State law requires inspections be completed and occupancy permits issued, even if they are temporary permits, before students can have classes in the portable buildings.

“Usually we like to come out prior to occupancy,” said JoAnne Sellars, operations chief for the state Fire Marshal’s Office. “We do consultations. We tell you what is needed to install, basic things, many times common things. We go back and reinspect. We allowed them to remain in the classrooms since they were already in place.”

Students were moved into two classrooms Sept. 24, two months before fire marshals were requested to inspect the portable buildings. Now, there are 42 third-grade students and an additional 35 fourth-grade students in the buildings.

Superintendent Becky Wilkinson told The Sun that when school started, the district had temporary permits for the classrooms, and the students moved into the classrooms in October or November.

In a Dec. 6 inspection completed by the Office of the Fire Marshal for the State of Oklahoma, the form shows the Deer Creek Superintendent requested an inspection of the portable buildings which had been in use as classrooms for the previous two months.

Vrooman and Sellars both confirmed that Vrooman requested the inspection.

The form shows, in part, the requirements for permanent occupancy which had not been met were as follows:

• Drawings of each building must be submitted to the state fire marshal for review along with fire alarm plans. The plans were to have been approved before the state fire marshal approved permanent occupancy.

• All fire extinguishers must be in place and operable for temporary occupancy of classrooms already in use. The fire marshal was to be contacted by Dec. 14 for follow-up inspection of these deficiencies.

• Appliances must be plugged directly into receptacles and extension cords must be removed.

The report states that all classrooms shall be completely finished before use.

Vrooman said he had been misinformed about the proper procedure by a district employee who is no longer employed by the district.

“I had been told we didn’t need to have a fire marshal inspection since these were portable buildings,” Vrooman said. “This is the first time I have been in charge of bringing portable buildings to a site, but in the future I will see fire marshals are contacted from the beginning.”

Sellars said this type of thing is not common, but it has happened in the past.

“Contractors or anyone involved in a construction project are use to certain codes,” Sellars said. “When they build outside the area, things change, not only are codes different, but so are procedures.

“We only permit for specific types of buildings that are mandated in the state statutes and public schools are one of them. Some people think that because it is an unincorporated area where there are no codes, the standards aren’t the same. The same standards apply to these types of situations. Even though it is after the fact, we get involved to make sure the children and all who occupy public school buildings are safe. Once we are aware of it we do get involved.”

On Jan. 4, classrooms once again were granted Temporary Occupancy with that occupancy to not extend beyond 60 days from Jan. 4.

On March 3, Temporary Occupancy was given once again for 30 days while items including have a licensed electrician contractor certify electrical systems and having the structure and plumbing certified by contractors is completed.

Permanent Occupancy was granted for Rose Union Elementary School’s portable buildings April 2.

“We do have the final inspection (listed) on April 2,” Sellars said. “’Occupancy is allowed.”

“The engineer here has asked them (the school district) to have an architect actually design and give plans to the state to make sure the buildings are safe during high winds and weight loads on the roof are satisfactory. At that time they will be given a Certificate of Occupancy,” she said.



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