Ray O’Brocki, CFSC Fire Service Relations Manager
June 3, 2019
Last month, Ray O’Brocki, Fire Service Relations Manager for the AWC, participated in City of Los Angeles “Fire Safety During Construction” meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to craft a set of enforceable policies that will safeguard construction in the City of Los Angeles.
The policy crafted will be some of the most comprehensive policies regarding construction fire safety anywhere in the nation. The policy includes provisions for:
- Site and Equipment Security
- Access and Parking
- Fire Protection Systems
- Exit Requirements
- Flammable Liquid Storage
- Combustible Material Storage
- Hazardous Materials
- Hot Work policy that includes a “High Wind provision that will prohibit open hot work on “red flag alert days.”
L.A.’s “Fire Safety During Construction” working group brings together stakeholders from private industry and government to provide solutions to the problem of fires on construction sites.
The Construction Fire Safety Coalition is committed to ensuring the fire safety of all construction sites and recognizes the important roles of all players – including developers, the construction team, the building department and the fire department – in preventing fires.
The most common causes of fire include: hot work, smoking, heating devices, electrical malfunctions, cooking fires, criminal activity and vandalism. The Construction Fire Safety Coalition offers resources to address these threats and fire safety plans to keep construction sites safe. Visit our fire services resources for more information.
Raymond O’Brocki, is the manager of fire service relations for the American Wood Council. Before that he was the chief building official for the City of Rockville, MD. He retired as the assistant fire chief the Baltimore City Fire Department in 2013. He was appointed fire marshal for Baltimore City in 2008. During his tenure as fire marshal, Baltimore City recorded the three lowest annual fire fatality totals in its history. O’Brocki has served on the Maryland State Child Care Advisory Council, Maryland State Fire Code Update Committee, State Fire Marshals Legislative Working Group in Annapolis and the steering committee for the Mid-Atlantic Life Safety Conference. He has served on the NFPA Urban Fire Safety Task Force and has presented at the National Fire Academy. Ray is currently a sitting member of the NFPA 1 technical committee. He is a graduate of the University of Baltimore School of law and a licensed attorney.