Page One

Since losing his sister and parents to a home fire nearly one month ago, Jason Jusay is crusading for home safety in Berkeley. Appearing at last week’s City Council meeting, Jusay said, “We need more stringent and better procedural processes to inspect buildings for safety.” 

“I’d like to be involved in whatever decisions the City Council makes,” he said.  

Since then, support for fire safety has snowballed. The Associated Students of the University of California drafted a proposal to the City Council to “expand existing enforcement mechanisms to include regularly scheduled inspections of apartment buildings to insure compliance with building code regulations.” 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington has placed the resolution on tonight’s council agenda. The plan lacks specifics, so Worthington is asking the Housing Advisory Commission and the city manager for their input. 

The student resolution points to a number of laws already in the books to ensure fire safety. According to the resolution the problem with these, is the onus is placed on tenants to contact city officials to investigate their homes. This makes enforcement difficult. 

“I support the proposal because it’s important to address safety concerns. Some tenants have said they’re afraid to complain to their landlord about safety hazards because they’re afraid of being penalized for it, although there are laws against that,” Worthington said. 

Currently, landlords are required by law to install and maintain functioning smoke detectors on all rental property. In apartments, this means mounting detectors outside any sleeping area.  

The Fire Department inspects all Berkeley rooming houses, hotels and dormitories, which are required to have a smoke detector in every sleeping room. Single family homes like the one the Jusay family rented on Martin Luther King Jr. Way, however, are exempt from such inspections unless the Fire Department is called by the owner or tenant. 

“It’s because a man’s home is his castle,” said David Orth, assistant fire chief. “Traditionally, a home is a bastion of freedom. To look inside people’s homes requires changing current laws. I think the (American Civil Liberties Union) would be very interested in a fire safety ordinance allowing the department to enter private residences to inspect smoke detectors.” 

As things stand, the department conducts three types of fire safety inspections. 

Orth said the current fire code stipulates that “three or more units under one roof in one residential unit are inspected on an annual basis.” This includes places of assembly, institutions, businesses, industrial sites and restaurants. 

“We don’t inspect vacant lots, single-family homes or duplexes,” he continued. 

In all, the department inspects 6,500 sites in Berkeley. Inspections are conducted every year, primarily between September and May. 

“In non-residential inspections, we go onto the property, into office spaces, patient’s rooms, school classrooms, and look for fire extinguishers, sprinkler systems, accumulation of combustibles, blockage of exits, window bars, that kind of thing.” 

However, in residential spaces, like apartments and dormitories, the majority of the inspection is done from the exterior.  

“We look at hallways, garages, rooftops, and we also try to contact tenants and landlords to insure that they have smoke detectors, but without permission, we don’t go into their rooms,” Orth said. 

Enforcement is also a difficult process.  

“In the homes that we do enter, for instance, on an emergency medical call, we look to see if extinguishers, detectors and sprinkler systems are installed,” Orth said.  

“If we see that there is no detector, we may just install one ourselves. But in the event that there are other hazards, like blocked exits, we could even evacuate buildings.” 

Between these two extremes are other existing methods of home safety enforcement. 

“Because we do charge for annual inspections, if we see a violation or a problem, we can issue a notice of violation, which gives 30 days to correct the problem.”  

The department then re-inspects in 30 days, for which the property owner pays a second charge.  

If there is a failure to correct the violation, then a citation is given, which consists of a monetary penalty and proof that the problem has been fixed. Lastly, the department can charge a property owner with a misdemeanor, “in worst case scenarios, where a repeat offender could end up in jail,” Orth said. 

“But that’s for situations where there are combustibles lying around, creating a dangerous situation, and the owner has not demonstrated the intention of correcting the situation despite repeat warnings,” Orth said. 

Furthermore there is a process under way to install fire extinguishers in a growing number of structures within the city’s borders. 

“Every time any property is bought or sold, it has smoke detectors installed,” he said. There is also a program which anyone can call to have detectors installed in their homes, which receives three to four calls a week. “It’s slowed down since it began,” he added. 

“Berkeley is an advanced city prevention wise,” Orth said. 

While details of the ASUC’s proposal are yet to be determined, there is still groundwork to lay before the parameters can be determined. 

“We’d have to establish a “special need” to enter people’s private property.” he said, saying that it would also have to be part of a larger, multi-faceted program that goes beyond, “firemen knocking on people’s doors looking for some smoke detectors.” 

Enforcement issues need to be figured out, as well as education and funding possibilities,” he said. If plans do go through the City Council and a comprehensive home safety plan is enacted, it would mean a heavier work load for the Fire Department. 

“There are 28,000 residences in this city,” Orth said.  

“We’re not opposed to more work, but without additional inspectors, there will be some resistance. On the other hand, if more inspectors are included in whatever plans are made, we’ll probably back it.” 

But as Jonas Jusay told the council, “something as fundamental as a smoke detector may have saved (my family’s) life.” 

To reach the Berkeley Fire Department’s smoke detector program, call 644-6158. 

Daily Planet reporter William Inman contributed to this story.