New deputy fire marshal to help with inspections

Within Mountain Brook city limits, there are 807 structures containing about 1,600 businesses, all of which need to be up to code. This job is typically the responsibility of the city’s fire marshal, but over the years Chief Fire Marshal Leland Rhudy said he has found it difficult to find time for reviewing plans, speaking with architects and engineers and physically visiting sites.

“You just don’t have the time to do the annual inspections that you need to [do],” Rhudy said. 

So to help manage the workload, Mountain Brook Fire Department hired Adam Bomar as the Deputy Fire Marshal this past December.

Bomar, who is originally from Memphis, said he knew he was interested in firefighting from a young age when he would visit his local fire station to see the trucks, “just like every little kid did,” he said. “It’s really just been a childhood dream.”

From there, he attended the University of Memphis and Auburn University. Bomar served as a volunteer firefighter in Auburn before coming to the Mountain Brook Fire Department six years ago. Now, he specializes in fire investigation and is certified through the International Association of Arson Investigators.

“And that kind of led me into this position … being one of the fire investigators here,” he said. “The inspection stuff comes along with it.”

Rhudy said the department’s goal is for Bomar to visit every business at least once in 2018 to provide a fire and safety inspection.

“Having 1,600 businesses, it’s tough to do, but we’re going to give it our best shot,” Bomar said. Although some storefronts may not have been visited in some time, Rhudy said this is due to a limited amount of resources. Now, they’re hoping to be more consistent in their checkups.

Some structures with higher occupancy rates and foot traffic — such as schools or churches — may even have inspections twice a year. The goal is to keep everyone safe in the event of an emergency.

“Chief Rhudy and I are strictly in a ‘worse case scenario’ [mindset] every time we go in there,” Bomar said. “People have a tough time understanding that we’re looking at ‘What if this place catches on fire?’”

When they do on-site visits, Bomar said, they will check to make sure no exits are blocked and all exit signs are working, address any electrical concerns, look for address numbers on the outside of the building and check for up-to-date sprinkler inspections. Two of those — clear exits and address numbers on the exterior of the building — are commonly missed, Bomar said.

Bomar added that many of the problems he finds can be fixed within a few minutes while he resumes the inspection, but at the end of the visit, he emails a report to the business with any changes they may need to do. From there, each site will have two weeks to solve the issue before he revisits for a recheck.

“And we’ll go through that process until the issue’s fixed,” Bomar said. But if something is a major violation, Rhudy said, they still have the authority to shut the business down. 

In addition to site visits, Bomar will also be helping Rhudy with reviewing construction and renovation plans and public education. And he’s looking forward to being out and about in the community.

“I’d like to have a good working relationship with all the businesses around here where they can trust that we’re looking after the best interest of not only them, but the patrons of their business,” Bomar said. “You never want to see a life lost over something that could have been prevented.”