The City Council, by unanimous vote, adopted a resolution acknowledging the Oxnard Fire Department's report on state-mandated inspections of specified occupancies.

Why it matters: California law requires jurisdictions to track and report certain fire- and life-safety inspections. The Fire Department's report discloses the department's current compliance level, operational constraints and steps to improve inspection coverage.

Key points from the report and council discussion

- Statutory framework and report: Staff presented the report prepared under state inspection requirements for specified occupancies (report referenced California Health and Safety Code provisions cited in staff materials).

- Compliance level and limitations: Fire staff said inspections of R-1 and R-2 residential occupancies required under state law (SB 1205 reporting obligations were discussed during the item) could not be completed annually for all buildings due to limited inspector capacity. The department reported completing roughly 38% of the residential multi-unit inspections in the reported period (staff-provided figure in meeting discussion).

- Causes and operational constraints: Fire staff cited a combination of factors: increasing calls for service, vacancies and recruitment challenges, and supply-chain delays affecting apparatus and equipment procurement. Staff said these constraints reduce available inspection hours because responding fire units and prevention personnel are assigned to emergency response and other operational duties.

- Comparisons with other jurisdictions: In response to council questions, staff provided a quick comparison: several neighboring jurisdictions reported near- or full-compliance in their reporting cycle (Ventura County and several cities), while a few other jurisdictions reported partial compliance.

- Follow-up requests from council: Councilmembers asked staff to include multi-year trend statistics in future reports and comparative data with similar-sized jurisdictions so the council can monitor changes over time.

Council action

The council adopted a resolution acknowledging receipt of the Fire Chief's report on mandated inspections (vote recorded as 7-0). Staff said they will provide additional trend and comparative data in the next annual submission.

Provenance: Discussion and adoption are recorded in the transcript at the fire item (M1) and the following roll-call (transcript segments ~s:10945.43's:11467.85).

Speakers quoted

- Fire Chief (title used in transcript): "Common violations are combustibles on the property... not servicing fire alarms or fire protection equipment." (summary paraphrase from meeting discussion)
- Councilmember (Starr): requested inclusion of prior-year comparisons and cross-jurisdictional benchmarks.

Ending: The resolution does not itself change inspection policy; it records the department's compliance status and directs staff to continue reporting and to expand the comparative trend data for future council review.