Fire prevention team reports meeting budget goals while inspecting backlog grows with system count

The fire prevention team presented its Q1–Q2 performance report and told the committee it is meeting or exceeding the department's budget performance goals for development review, annual inspections and fire life-safety work. Staff said they now monitor roughly 3,200–3,400 fire-life-safety systems, many of which require annual testing, and that the growth in monitored systems makes percentage-based targets harder to compare over time. As the fire representative said, "we've now grown to the 3,200, 3,300, 3,400 systems that we're monitoring now."

Staff and council members discussed causes of apparent shortfalls in inspection targets that began around 2022. A staff member clarified the difference between tests performed by building owners and the city's role in follow-up: "It's actually the responsibility of the building owners to perform the test and then submit a report to fire that says we've completed it this year." Council member Percy asked staff to split future reporting into owner-submitted completions and city-managed follow-up so the council can see which portion of compliance is the city's operational responsibility.

Staff described program adjustments intended to better align inspection frequency with staffing and risk: a reclassification of occupancies according to NFPA guidance (referred to as "NFPA 17 30" in the presentation) to distinguish high/moderate/low-risk occupancies and to move some occupancies to a two-year inspection cycle. Staff said this rebalancing should not reduce safety for high-risk uses (for example, high-pile storage remains prioritized). The report covered a five-year trend (Jan. 2021–June 2026): staff said 27,430 units or building units were impacted by a fire in that interval and 73 units were displaced for more than 24 hours.