Rain pelted the New London Fire Station’s windows on Friday, March 2, when the Voice sat down with Fire Marshal Vernon Skau. Featuring walls lined with photographs and desks piled high with records, Skau’s second-floor office doubles as a mini-museum of fire hazards. On a brief tour of the office, Skau told the stories behind several pieces of fire-investigation evidence: a plastic baby doll with its head charred and its body melted, images from the recent Taco Bell destruction, and an interior photo of a house turned treacherous by hoarding. But present in the greatest physical and photographic abundance were the subjects of the hour: disarmed and faulty fire alarms.
According to Skau, disabled fire alarms are the leading cause of fire-related civilian death. In his 16 years with the New London Fire Department, Skau has seen only eleven deaths in nine fatal fires — all from faulty fire alarms. “Not counting one fire,” he added, “set to cover up a double homicide.”
On Friday morning, Skau already knew he would have a full day ahead of him. Though most of us probably think of rain as a deterrent rather than an incentive of fires, Skau commented that in the Fire Prevention Division, rainy days tend to be the busiest. But while the past weekend’s Nor’Easter wasn’t pretty, it can’t compare to the hurricane that rocked New London eighty years ago. Known as “The Great New England Hurricane of 1938,” the storm caused a fire that destroyed a long stretch of Bank St., including the property where the New London Fire Department headquarters now stands. It’s one of three fire stations in New London, and the oldest: according to Skau, the current headquarters went under construction right after the hurricane and was completed in 1939 or 1940.
Skau is far younger than the fire station, but a long-standing New London community member nonetheless. Of the 16 years he’s spent with the New London Fire Department, he’s served as Fire Marshal for just over three of them. But before Skau came to New London, he got his start in nearby Clinton, CT, at an age before most kids learn to drive.
“In my particular case, [firefighting] was in my family,” Skau said. “Several generations had been firefighters.” Referring to the minimum age requirement for Clinton’s junior firefighter program, he added: “I couldn’t wait until I was fifteen years old… Junior firefighter programs are very limited on what they can do, but it was very enjoyable, being involved in the community.”
Now, Skau’s job entails a lot more than it did when he was fifteen. He explained that as Fire Marshal, his work consists of “two primary functions: to enforce Connecticut State fire safety code in any commercial building or any residential building with three or more apartments, and to investigate the origin of fires.”
Recognizing that his role sometimes posits him as the “bad guy,” Skau said that at the Fire Marshal’s Office, “we are looked at as the enforcement arm in the code, but that is the last step in the process. If we get to the point where we’re issuing a criminal summons, there’s been a misstep [in fire prevention] along the way.”
“Every commercial building in the City of New London has to be inspected by our office,” Skau said, noting that the required frequency of inspections depends on the building’s purpose and occupancy. “Our normal day consists of doing inspections, [but] a fire can put a wrinkle into all of that.”
Skau shares his office with inspector David Heiney, who chimed in to estimate that the Division averages three or four fire investigations per week. Battalion chiefs, who attain their own fire marshal certifications through a “two-module course”—one in the fall, one in the spring, like a college academic cycle—take some of the work off of Skau and Heiney’s hands. As a result, the Fire Prevention Division only steps in in cases of “significant damage,” like a stovetop fire that spreads beyond a contained area, or a “criminal event.” Tampering with a fire alarm constitutes the latter, so the recent surge in fire-alarm manipulation at Conn brought an increased workload for Skau and Heiney.
“We issued a criminal summons last week,” Skau said, referring to the fire safety walk-throughs that he and Heiney have been conducting in residence halls and apartments on Conn’s campus. “Instead of following through on campus with the Honor Code, we’re enforcing [the fire code] criminally.”
Despite the strong language and gravity of a “criminal summons,” Skau doesn’t think that students are purposely endangering themselves and others. “More often than not,” he commented, “it’s not a malicious attempt—it’s ignorance.” Skau cited an “excellent relationship” with Environmental Health & Safety at Conn, but noted that the Fire Prevention Division has moved to criminal-level enforcement on campus because, “We started seeing a trend. I felt as though there were forces outside Health & Safety at the College that weren’t totally on the same page as I was.”
Now, however, Skau thinks that the situation is starting to turn around. “I’m hoping that we’re able to move beyond this,” he observed. “Where we’re at with Connecticut College right now is looking to see where we can get on the fire prevention side.”
Skau stressed that the walk-throughs are not meant to seem like a threat to students, and that so far, students have been cooperative.
“We both go—just the two of us,” Skau said, referring to himself and Heiney. “When we do our annual inspections, that’s when College staff comes with.” He added that students have to be present in their spaces during the checks, noting: “We’re not walking into students’ rooms unless they’re there.” To confirm this point, Dean of Students Victor Arcelus commented: “The Fire Marshal is not inspecting unoccupied spaces and does not have keys to our campus buildings.”
While Skau considers fire safety at the College a priority, he looks forward to the day when walk-throughs are no longer necessary. “It takes away from other things we need to do,” he commented, noting that construction projects which look to revitalize old buildings and establish new housing will need his approval.
Development is surging in New London, Heiney added, as recent job creation at Groton-based Electric Boat has increased the demand for employee housing. “It’s the housing market growing that will bring everything else,” he said. But despite the population growth, Skau noted: “I don’t see tremendous growth in the fire department… The one problem with New London is the tax base: in the city’s six square miles, 50 percent of the property is non-taxable,” limiting the funding for public services. New London’s tax-exempt land is occupied by churches, medical facilities, and the city’s biggest non-profit resource consumer: Connecticut College.
Though Skau might not foresee growth within the fire department, he seems to enjoy his job, especially the criminal investigations. “Each fire investigation has its own interesting twists and turns,” he observed. As a fire marshal, he added, “you’re kind of a truth-seeker.”
[…] Article excerpt: […]