A fire watch guard is a trained and skilled professional you employ to patrol your building/site to detect fire hazards. Fire watch guards work in shifts to protect the premises 24/7. They track the places you want to protect and respond quickly in the event of a fire by alerting the fire department.

There are many conditions that can cause a fire outbreak including hurricanes, natural disasters, defective equipment, misuse of equipment, as well as faulty wiring. Unfortunately, the main cause of fires is often lack of care as well as arson (to set a fire on purpose). Our fire watch guards work to locate and remove possible hazards.

We will:

• Track the building and/or facility
• Patrol the premises on a daily basis (every 15 minutes or an hour)
• Look for on-site fire hazards that may theoretically increase the likelihood of fire outbreaks.
• Check if your fire-fighting equipment is in order, including your fire alarm and sprinklers.
• Keep logs / records of relevant information during each patrol round
• Work with municipal fire services
• Contact the fire department in the event of a fire

The National Fire Protection Association ( NFPA) may require you to use fire watch guards if your fire alarm and/or sprinklers are not working properly. More precisely, if your fire alarm device remains unfixed for 10 hours or longer in a 24-hour period, you are obliged to have a fire watch guard. In such circumstances, you must report this to the fire department. This ensures that every building / facility with fire alarms or sprinklers is obligated to correct the anomalies as soon as possible.

Compromised Fire Alarm

If your fire alarm system is compromised, a fire watch guard is needed. Your fire alarm or sprinklers can become disabled due to a variety of reasons (mechanical or electrical). In such situations, the law requires you to have on-site fire watch guards to mitigate liability, prevent fines and protect everyone from a possible fire outbreak.

Yes, the Fire Marshal can fine you and shut you down.

You may be fined by a fire marshal for breaching the minimum safety requirements. These regulations can vary from state to state, as well as fines, but if you fail to meet the minimum safety criteria, you can be fined.

Upon inspection of your premises, if the fire inspector determines that you have not complied with the safety requirements, they will send you a notice that serves as a warning so that you can fix these irregularities within a certain time-frame.   If you fail to make any corrections, you will be fined and/or shut down.

The cost of fire watch services depends on several factors including whether it’s an emergency or a routine patrol. In emergency situations, fire watch service typically costs significantly more because more staff and resources are required. In such cases, the amount can go as high as $150 per hour. Prices vary from company to company but are generally within the $50-$150 range.

Calling your own fire watch guards is a much better option than having the fire marshal send guards over as this may cost significantly more. In such instances, the cost goes well beyond $200 because the fire marshal needs to send more staff and pay for their overtime. This is why it’s better to hire a private fire watch company as the prices are lower while the quality of the service is the same.