AG raises alarm about fire marshal's office

Nova Scotia's auditor general says the province's fire marshal is compromising public safety by not carrying out required school and building inspections.

"I am recommending a complete overhaul of the whole department and I'm recommending that they do a complete review of their needs and what's required and what has to be done. It may go beyond the specific recommendations that we put in there," Auditor General Jacques Lapointe told reporters on Wednesday.

"I will expect — given that it's a public safety issue — that they will, in fact, take action and that they'll do it quickly."

In his spring report, Lapointe said the office of the fire marshal has no inventory of buildings that require safety inspections, and management of the office doesn't know if required safety inspections have been completed.

"The office of the fire marshal is not meeting minimum fire safety inspection frequencies specified in legislation and policies for buildings under its inspection responsibility," Lapointe wrote in his 189-page report.

The auditor general's office found 47 per cent of required inspections were not completed since the audit began in the fall. He said there was also no evidence that "significant fire safety deficiencies discovered during inspections were corrected."

"We think it's unacceptable. There are whole classes of buildings in which we see the inspection rates are extremely low and it's one of the reasons that we say this is a public safety issue and must be corrected and action must be taken," Lapointe said.

He also said the fire marshal's office does an "inadequate" job of monitoring municipalities to make sure they inspect buildings for fire safety. Only five of 56 municipalities have been reviewed since 2003 to see if they comply with the Fire Safety Act.

Of those five municipalities, none completed all the required inspections.

Public school inspections inadequate

Public schools also did not undergo adequate fire safety inspections because there's confusion about whose responsibility it is, the report concluded.

Although legislation requires schools to be inspected by municipalities every three years, the auditor general found the inspections were not being done because schools are owned by the province, and therefore the municipalities do not believe inspections are their responsibility.

'The results of this audit make it apparent that the department has not made these important issues a priority.' — Auditor General Jacques Lapointe

Lapointe criticized the Department of Labour and Advanced Education for not acting on recommendations made after previous audits in 1987 and 2001.

"Inadequate monitoring of municipalities, an inadequate management information system, and not completing inspections in accordance with the required frequency are all issues which were previously reported," said the auditor general's report.

"The results of this audit make it apparent that the department has not made these important issues a priority."

Labour Minister Marilyn More, who oversees the fire marshal's office, said the provincial government would act on Lapointe's 25 recommendations.

Minister promises action

She said the government would address them within the next 18 months, adding that they've already acted on several points while the fire marshal's office reviews its activities to see if it's living up to its legislative duties.

"We'll take responsibility for that but certainly there's been a change in senior management within the fire marshal's office," More told CBC News.

"We're going to work with the current staff, we have about 14 full-time positions and they're fully committed to moving forward,"

In a statement to the legislature, More said the department has started an inventory of buildings that require fire inspections and implemented daily and monthly reporting practices.

"We will issue progress reports so everyone can see what action is being taken," she added.

"Public safety is a priority."

The fire marshal is responsible for overseeing fire safety in buildings and the safe storage of flammable materials. It also advises government and municipalities on fire-related issues and does fire prevention education.

Lapointe recommended the office compile basic information needed to do its job, such as a list of buildings requiring inspections, dates when they were last inspected, when the next is due and the results of inspections. He said all the information should be put into a system that is easily accessible.