Here are details on the fire alarm inspection and testing from OCFEC Facilities Director Jerry Eldridge. This information has been communicated to equestrian center management.
Attention: 6/12/2019
Equestrian Center Management
Re: Equestrian Center Fire Alarm Test / Inspection
Management,
The OCFEC has scheduled to run pretests and final test to complete the fire alarm system.
Friday, June 14, and Thursday, June 20, at 11 a.m. we will be performing a quick sound test to let equestrian center patrons know just how loud the bells may sound so they can prepare their horses.
We will be sounding off Barn F only (closest to the entry gate) and it will run for about two minutes or less. There will be two tests. One being with a muffled bell to observe the sound and the other un-muffled to hear the full capacity of the bell. The decibels of each bell are 90 to 95 dB at 10 feet away.
• For all equestrians who are concerned, please try to be on grounds by 11 a.m. Friday, June 14, and/or Thursday, June 20. If your horse is on grounds you may want to be close to them to observe their reaction.
• If you observe your horse to be disturbed by the sounds please get with the equestrian center management.
• For those that cannot be on grounds for any part of this process, pretest or final inspection, know that the equestrian center management and West Coast Fire have committed to having extra staff on grounds to help monitor and observe horse behavior. If any issues arise, the testing will be stopped immediately (via radio communication) and resume once the equestrian management staff provides a resolution.
• I have been notified that there is a possibility of using ear plugs so if that is an option for your horse please have them available on the 14th, 20th and July 2nd for the final inspection. The ear plugs will not need to be left in all day nor overnight. The pretesting and the final inspection test will be one day each.
On Thursday, June 20, West Coast Fire will be on site to run testing on the system for most of the day. They will be muffling the sound of the bells but will need to pre-run the system throughout the day for brief intervals. The West Coast Fire team will also need
full access to ALL tack rooms on June 20 to observe that the the strobe notification systems are working properly. This pretest process will start around 7 a.m. and run until 2:30 p.m.
• The equestrian management may need to move horses out of their stalls for five to 10 minutes while West Coast Fire staff activates the heat sensors which are located in the barn rafters of each stall. I don’t think the horses need to be moved to a new stall, I believe the handler can stay with the horse to move them back in right after the test. It will be individual stalls at a time not the entire barn.
• As West Coast staff move from one tack room to the other confirming the systems performance they will lock the room once they are complete.
On July 2 at 11 a.m., the fire marshal will be on site to perform his final inspection. He wants to see everything working and the testing should be about three hours long.
• The fire marshal will also need
full access to ALL tack rooms on July 2 at 11 a.m. to observe that the strobe notification systems are working properly.
• We will test the visual notification system first. Strobes and heat sensors so again the horses will need to be escorted out of the stall briefly to allow for the fire marshal to activate the sensors in the stalls. The fire marshal has stated that he will not have to test every sensor; but he may test five to six in each barn.
• Once the visual notification system testing is complete, we will move on to the testing the audible notification system (the bells). At this time the OCFEC, equestrian center management and West Coast Fire will have staff on site to help observe the horses. This test will alarm for approximately five minutes or less and it will be all 10 bells at once un-muffled.
• If any issues arise, the testing will be stopped immediately (via radio communication) and resume once the equestrian management and horse owners, if available, have provided a resolution.
I understand that this may be an inconvenience for many, however to get a final sign-off and approval from Cal Fire, this is the process that must take place. Please feel free to contact me and or the equestrian center management for any further clarification of this process.
Jerry Eldridge
Director of Facilities, OCFEC
Jeldridge@ocfair.com
