4/05/2006 

Some fires can be complicated puzzles
By Don Klein
 
The tragic blaze that burned down one horse barn and damaged two other barns at Ocean Downs Racetrack killing one of the horses and injuring a security guard on March 22 had volunteer firefighters from Berlin, Ocean Pines, Newark, Ocean City and Showell on the scene for approximately three hours before it was under control and safe enough to leave.
 
Not so with investigators from the Worcester County fire marshal’s office. To begin with there were two inspectors searching for the cause and one remained on the job sifting through the debris at least a week later. A final report is still to come.
 
Fire investigations are the most visible and gratifying work for fire marshals. “It is most rewarding because we have to unravel what often is a complicated puzzle,” said Jeffrey A. McMahon, Worcester County fire marshal.
 
The search for the origins and causes of fires is a challenge but just one of five important functions of the personnel in that office. It is a busy office which investigates the origins and causes of about 150 of the more than 600 fires every year in the county, excluding Ocean City which has its own fire marshal.
 
McMahon, 45, started fighting fires 25 years ago as a volunteer fireman. “I thoroughly enjoy the fire service,” he said. He started as a communication clerk with the county 19 years ago and worked his way up the ranks. He joined the fire marshal’s office in 1994 and became the fire marshal in 1996.
 
“We investigate all major fires and any involving a death or injury,” McMahon explained.  But investigating fires is not the only responsibility of the personnel in McMahon’s office. “The fire marshal’s office has five functions,” he explained.  The other four are:
 
1. The fire marshal has to review construction plans for all structures in his jurisdiction to check sprinkler systems and general fire protection attributes. During the last four or five years, he said, they conducted about 600 such inspections annually.
 
2. They inspect businesses, places of public assembly, multi-family occupancies, apartment, dormitories, townhouses, hotels and motels for fire safety requirements. “Any unit with three families or more under one roof,” he said, falls under the fire marshal’s purview. 
 
3. Fire prevention and education is another role for the personnel in that office. “At least 50 times a year we go out to talk at public gatherings to educate people to be better prepared to prevent fires,” he said. He continued by noting that fire prevention month is October “but we are out all year long.”
 
4. The last function is an outgrowth of September 11, 2001. The county designated the fire marshal’s office to establish a special hazards response team (SHRT) to handle all chemical, biological, nuclear and explosive incidents in the county.
 
Although handling hazardous material matters has been a priority only for the last five years, special funding from federal Homeland Security grants made it possible for the fire marshal to purchase two specialized trucks complete with trailers to carry necessary special anti-terror equipment. With the addition of state funding, the cost of special Hazmat vehicles and equipment comes to nearly a million dollars.
 
McMahon believes, “Worcester County is prepared for any emergency that might arise,” but he admitted he would not turn down any additional monetary assistance. Since 2001 “we have had 25 Hazmat calls a year,” he said.
 
Hazmat emergencies may be calls from anything like white powder discoveries (as an anthrax threat) or large spills of harmful or toxic material on land or water.
 
It is important not to confuse the fire marshal’s office with any of the county’s 10 volunteer fire companies all of which have their own operational commands and administrative staffs.
 
McMahon’s office is made up of four deputy fire marshals and a clerical worker. Every one of the investigators must be re-certified in five basic fields at regular intervals. He also supervises 40 Hazmat volunteers. The county budget for the fire marshal’s office comes to less than $400,000 this fiscal year.
 
All the men, including McMahon, are volunteer firemen in their communities, as is the clerical worker’s husband.  
 
McMahon was born in Salisbury and grew up in Pocomoke where he graduated from high school. He attended the University of Maryland and has two daughters, 23 and 21. He lives in Girdletree, not far from his Snow Hill office in the county administration building. He is still a volunteer fireman in Girdletree after all these years.
 
Footnote:
Originally the fire marshal’s office wanted to call the hazardous materials response group, the Special Hazards Incident Team, but the acronym just did not work out.

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