Lowndes County Fire Rescue

Overview

More important than firefighting itself, in many modern industrial countries is fire prevention. Fire fighters are trained in the basic fire prevention methods and fire companies are assigned inspection and pre-fire planning surveys in which they attempt to prevent or correct unsafe conditions and become familiar with the businesses within their district. LCFR is also charged with the enforcement of all local fire prevention codes and of state fire laws, regulations and standards.

Fire Safety

The Lowndes County Fire Marshal’s Office is charged with enforcing “Rules and Regulations for the State Minimum Fire Safety Standards” as adopted by the State Fire Commissioner.  The Fire Marshal is the authority having jurisdiction in these matters.  The Fire Marshal’s Office has the responsibility to conduct fire and life safety inspections on new and existing buildings and structures, review plans and specifications for proposed buildings and structures, maintain records, and respond to customer questions and concerns relating to fire hazards.  All commercial or multiple-dwelling buildings are inspected at regular intervals, and orders are issued for the correction of violations of fire laws.  If necessary, court action is taken to compel compliance.   

Fire Prevention

The Fire Marshal’s Division is also charged with the responsibility of providing fire prevention and life safety education to the general public. We can provide a wide range of fire prevention and public safety education ranging from programs for elementary school age children to fire extinguisher training for small groups. If you are interested in scheduling a presentation for your organization, contact Fire Marshal Mark Maskule, Captain Terry Parsons or Captain John Crittenden at 229-671-2730. If possible, try to call at least 1 week in advance.

A letter from Fire Marshal Mark Maskule:  Our mission is fire prevention through engineering, education, enforcement, emergency response and economics.  We are here to help reduce the potential for life and property loss.  Every household should have a working smoke alarm and at a minimum every room should have at least two ways of escape.  If we work together and take fire prevention seriously as a community, we can dramatically decrease the number of fires that our firefighters respond to each year.  When was the last time that you or anyone in your family practiced what to do in case of a fire?  When a fire occurs, you have approximately a minute and a half or 90 seconds to escape the home!  This is not the time to try and put a plan in place.  My office will assist you any way we can in helping you and your family be safer.

For more information, citizens encouraged to visit www.nfpa.org/Public-Education which is loaded with great safety tips for you and your family.