Dear Mam,

As a licensed Fire Alarm Technician with over 15 years of experience I can honestly say not to be overly concerned that one aspect of the installed system is not functioning 100%. The problem could be as simple as one manual pull station that has malfunctioned and is not reseting to a normal condition.

If the property is sprinkled and in good working order, then you don't have anything to worry about. It is a little known fact that since Grinnell invented the automatic sprinkler back in the 1860's NO ONE has ever passed away in a fully sprinkled building due to fire.

As for the fire watch, that tells me the daycare did contact their Fire Alarm service company who went out to the property and was unable to correct the problem for whatever reason at that time, and then had to report to the Authority having Jurisdiction (ie. the Fire Marshall). The Fire Marshall then went out to the property to determine the nature of the problem and decide whether or not the business could stay open. If you were able to drop off your child, then the Fire Marshall decided to allow the business to stay open with the constant presence of a "Fire Watch". A Fire Watch is a person or persons who are tasked with watching for a fire while the business is open. In the state of Louisiana you can operate for 10 days in this way to give the Fire Alarm Co time to effect a repair, usually all repairs are made in 1 to 2 business days especially at a small property like a daycare.

So to answer your questions, yes it is legal for the daycare to operate with a Fire Watch, and no I would not be overly concerned, it sounds like your daycare is operating by building code requirements.

Sincerely

Jeff Anderson

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