Department of Fire Prevention

625 Shoup Avenue, Idaho Falls, ID 83402

(208) 612-8497

FIRE MARSHAL REPORT

Inspection Request at 585 N. Capital Avenue
Law Enforcement Building, Idaho Falls, Idaho 83402

On Wednesday, March 11, 2015 I received a call from Division of Building Safety Inspector Russell Siddel to accompany
him on the morning of March 12, 2015 for a building inspection in reference to a complaint filed for fire and life safety
concerns in the building.
The building is located at 585 N. Capital Avenue and is known as the Law Enforcement Building. The Parcel ID number is
RPA1080013007B and the legal description is known as: S1/2 BLOCK 13, W 160' LOUIS DRIVE, W 300' MAIN STREET,
N1/2 BLOCK 20, HOLMES NW1/4, SEC 19, T 2N, R 38 COURTHOUSE EX. According to public records this building is
owned by Bonneville County. It is a 2-story facility with a full basement and includes approximately 63,000 square feet of
space which includes all levels of the building.
The building is located within the City limits of the City of Idaho Falls and is within the jurisdiction of the Idaho Falls Fire
Marshal. (Ref: International Fire Code 2012 Edition Section 104.3 Right of entry. Whenever it is necessary to make
an inspection to enforce the provisions of this code, or whenever the fire code official has reasonable cause to believe that
there exists in a building or upon any premises any conditions or violations of this code which make the building or
premises unsafe, dangerous or hazardous, the fire code official shall have the authority to enter the building or premises
at all reasonable times to inspect or to perform the duties imposed upon the fire code official by this code. If such building
or premises is occupied, the fire code official shall present credentials to the occupant and request entry. If such building
or premises is unoccupied, the fire code official shall first make a reasonable effort to locate the owner or other person
having charge or control of the building or premises and request entry. If entry is refused, the fire code official has
recourse to every remedy provided by law to secure entry.)
The Fire Marshal entered the building, which is a secure facility, and notified the primary occupants, City of Idaho Falls
Police Chief, Bonneville County Sheriff, Bonneville County Prosecutor and Bonneville Sheriff for court security that the
Fire Marshal and State Inspector were in the building to perform an unannounced fire inspection in reference to a
complaint. The items of the complaint were not disclosed the intent of the inspection was to verify or disprove items of
the complaint. This building is unique in that it is shared by City Police, Bonneville County Sheriff and Prosecutor and
Bonneville County Courts. The complaint only involved the area occupied by City Police. Because the public utilizes the
same common space of the building, the inspection was centered on the items of the complaint. Other elements of the
building were inspected such as unoccupied courtrooms, stairways, common hallways as these affect life safety for the
occupants and involve exit pathways and corridors of the building.
LIFE SAFETY:
This building has a fire sprinkler system in the basement only. An inspection in the mechanical room where the fire riser
was found indicated the fire sprinkler system has not been serviced or maintained since 2002. It is required to be
inspected and maintained annually. There are no records of required 5 year maintenance, system testing or maintenance
on the property. The condition of the fire sprinkler system is unknown and due to the length of time since any recorded
maintenance was performed it is doubtful that the system is operational. It has not been maintained for 13 years.
International Fire Code 2012 Edition (IFC) Section 901.4.5 Appearance of equipment. Any device that has the physical
appearance of life safety or fire protection equipment but that does not perform that life safety or fire protection function
shall be prohibited. Section 901.5.1 regarding Occupancy states: It shall be unlawful to occupy any portion of a building
or structure until the required fire detection; alarm and suppression systems have been tested and approved
At the time of inspection this system can no longer be considered approved as there is no evidence the
components have been maintained and will operate as designed.
Additional factors found at the time of inspection show that ceiling tiles have been removed or there are many areas of
open ceiling where there are opening that would prevent the fire sprinklers from operating as they require a heat build-up

Department of Fire Prevention

625 Shoup Avenue, Idaho Falls, ID 83402
(208) 612-8497

to activate the heads. The entire Evidence room was noted to have the ceiling tiles removed with fire sprinkler heads well
below the floor assembly. This is evidence that a ceiling may have originally been installed in this area. Fire sprinkler
heads should be located within specific limits of the ceiling assembly to allow for proper activation. This is generally no
farther than 6 from the decking.
Corrosion was noted in the basement custodial area on fire sprinkler heads. The City Police ammunition room has fire
sprinkler heads that are blocked or obstructed.
The building also shows evidence of a fire alarm notification system. This system has no identifiable fire alarm control
panel to activate or operate the system. Previous fire inspections also indicate this fact. The system has been altered with
some elements removed and covered with electrical cover plates. This system is non-functional and IFC Section 901.4.5
as noted above would also apply to this system.
The building is also equipped with residential smoke detectors which are not approved for commercial use. This is noted
in the court rooms and upper floor corridors. Many were tested for function during the inspection with the majority found
not operating. These are battery operated units with no notification throughout the building.
Records indicate there is a Judicial Order for this facility which requires persons entering the building to submit to
screening. Exit signs on doors indicate NO PUBLIC EXIT return to the point of entry to exit the building. This poses a life
safety hazard in that the travel distances to an exit are in excess of minimal safe distances. The travel distance to an exit
is heavily dependent on the fire sprinkler system and fire alarm and detection system to notify occupants of an
emergency. These systems, due to lack of maintenance, show no evidence of operating in this capacity. This would put
the occupants at risk to be able to get to an exit in the amount of time necessary to safely exit the building.
There are no posted exit routes or any signage indicating an emergency response plan, exit plan or fire safety plan. In
visiting with employees during the inspection most indicated that they have never participated in a fire drill, or participated
in any emergency plan or evacuation. When asked how they would be notified of a fire or emergency in the building most
employees did not know what to expect or how they would be notified.
The exit corridors were inspected with fire doors found propped open, exercise equipment, chairs, bicycles and office
files found in the corridors blocking a clear path of egress. This was noted in the rear judicial areas and main stairways of
the building. This issue was not specified in the complaint however it is evident throughout the building that exit passages
are obstructed and exit door signage will obviously confuse members of the public that they may not be able to use the
exit they have arrived at by way of exit signs in the building.
Fire Extinguishers found in the building have been serviced, although I did find several, with one dating to 1977 that had
not been serviced. This extinguisher was found in the ammunition storage room for the City Police. There appears to be
no program of monthly inspection for the fire extinguishers in the facility.
The building does not have any identifiable address numbers as required by building and fire codes.
The building does have an emergency generator for emergency power. This was not an item of concern in the complaint
and was not fully inspected. I did note there are many battery back-up emergency exit signs and lights that do not
operate, have burned out bulbs and have no record of maintenance. This is an issue during an emergency and I cannot
fully evaluate the extent of this safety issue without additional testing and reports. This would be an operation best
performed when the building is not occupied by the public.
HOUSEKEEPING ISSUES
Many employees reported to the State inspector the odor of sewage especially on week-ends and first of the week days. It
was noted that there are few operating ventilation fans in the men and women restrooms and in the basement locker
rooms, sauna area and forensic lab. The forensic lab reports drain issues from the lab sink. The locker rooms had a very
noticeable foul odor at time of inspection.

Department of Fire Prevention

625 Shoup Avenue, Idaho Falls, ID 83402
(208) 612-8497

The forensic lab has a non-operation eye-wash station with expired eye solutions. There are no MSDS Safety Data sheets
for the chemicals found in the lab. Hazardous chemicals are found unlabeled in the forensic lab and there are acid
solutions and flammable solutions found in the same storage cabinet which could pose a significant fire hazard from
chemical reaction. The forensic lab did have a portable gasoline generator in the lab, with fuel in the fuel tank.
Multiple electrical hazards were noted at time of inspection. The common issue was the use of power taps that were
interconnected placing the electrical power taps in an overloaded situation. This is a significant cause of fire as reported in
many published articles.
The use of space heaters was noted in the building. There appear to be areas where the heating system does not supply
enough heat this was noted in the basement womens restroom. Other space heaters found were not plugged directly
into electrical outlets and did not have tip-over protection. This is another known source of ignition for fires.
The City Police area of the building has a weapons and ammunition room. This room was found secured. The room has a
significant amount of ammunition stored. The fire sprinkler in this room was found blocked by boxes and would have a
limited spray pattern if activated. There are no clear aisles in the room and ammunition cases are found stacked in the
aisle. Occupants in this room would be obstructed by boxes in the aisle. There are no reported incendiary devices,
grenades, etc. found in this room at the time of inspection. Police agencies are allowed exceptions for ammunition and
ammunition storage under the auspices of the Fire Code. The amount of ammunition noted was not of significant concern.
The items of concern for this storage area are the blocked fire sprinklers and adequate aisle widths for occupants to enter
and exit the room. The fire extinguisher found in this room was approximately 36 years out of date and was the wrong
type of extinguisher for the hazard.
There were additional items noted by the State Inspector and will be recorded in his report.
Many items found on the complaint in possession of the State Inspector proved to be valid from this inspection. Several
items proved not to be valid. As this building has only a partial fire sprinkler system the lack of fire sprinklers in other
portions of the building would not be valid.
This building can see a significant amount of occupant traffic traveling to the Police Department, Sheriff, County
Prosecutor and upper floor courtrooms. There have been fires in this building from the fire history with a noted arson fire
in the upstairs law library. Many children can be found in the upper floor courtrooms pertaining to juvenile cases.
Previous inspections and letters sent regarding this facility have been ignored and many of these same issues go back to
2008 and 2009 inspections by the Fire Department. There is no evidence that there is a fire protection maintenance
program and there is evidence that parts of the fire alarm system have been altered and/or removed.
This facility plays a key role in the community. The Fire Marshal understands the operations necessary in our legal and
police environment, however occupants are at risk with the lack of maintenance to Life Safety systems in the building and
there is an appearance that the occupants are protected by the devices in place. This is not an accurate assessment. This
facility also has holding cells and persons under restraint or detention that would dictate Life Safety and Fire Protection
measures be in place and operational and were not part of the complaint investigation.
The Fire Marshal will make this report available to the Fire Chief of the Idaho Falls Fire Department. A copy will also be
sent to the State Inspector to be included in his report. The Fire Marshal noted (9) significant Fire Code violations for the
areas inspected in reference to the complaint. As noted above there were some issues from the complaint that were
unfounded, Many issues of the complaint were found to be present at the time of inspection.

The Fire Code adopted by the City of Idaho Falls would require that a misdemeanor citation be issued for the failure to
maintain the fire sprinkler system and fire alarm system. The intent of the citation would be to bring the life safety systems
into an operation condition, immediately. The remaining items will be handled in a violation notice to the building owner
with an active plan to make corrections. If ignored or not completed escalation to a citation would be the next steps.

Department of Fire Prevention

625 Shoup Avenue, Idaho Falls, ID 83402
(208) 612-8497

Of primary concern would be the establishment of an emergency plan and fire safety plan. This process would include
testing and maintenance of equipment, exit signs and emergency lighting, posting of emergency evacuation routes and
exits and emergency training for employees. Of the violations noted this process would implement many of the corrections
necessary. Fire and emergency plans must meet with the approval of the Fire Code Official when submitted by the
building owner. The Fire Marshal can provide a list of items to be included in these plans upon request.

Submitted by:

Ken Anderson, Fire Marshal

City of Idaho Falls
Idaho Falls Fire Department