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Boston Fire Officials Tell Legislature Local Chiefs Should Enforce State Fire Code on State Properties
Summary
Boston fire officials and lawmakers urged the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security to give local fire chiefs authority to enforce the state fire code at state‑owned buildings, saying current gaps create safety risks and inconsistent standards across the Commonwealth.
Boston Fire Department officials told the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security on Oct. 11 that local fire departments should be allowed to enforce the state fire code in state‑owned buildings.
"When I learned the state properties were not under any obligation to comply with state fire code, I was shocked," Pat Ellis, chief of operations for the Boston Fire Department, told the committee while urging a favorable report on House Bill 2577, which would close what supporters described as a decades‑old loophole.
Ellis said the current arrangement leaves state agencies to…
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