Shiawassee Times

We would like to introduce our new Fire Inspector, Dan Miller. Dan has worked for the City of Owosso for 3 years as a Firefighter/Paramedic. 

“I am a fire inspector – firefighter – paramedic. Before this, I was an Army medic. 

Most of us are adrenaline junkies, we like fighting fires. But it is better if we do not have to do that job. Our number one priority is the safety of the community we serve. The best way to keep your community safe is through prevention. Fire prevention for me is a big deal, which is why I wanted to become a fire inspector. 

I went through the fire inspector course in October and then I took the state exam in November. Technically, I am still in training with Lt. Harvey. 

One part of fire inspections are going into a building and looking for fire extinguishers, exit signs, emergency lighting, and stuff like that. We ask ourselves if this building caught fire, is there anything here that is going to be a problem. Fire inspectors also do plan reviews. If someone wants to construct a building, you have to review the plans to make sure it meets the fire safety code. 

There are some easy safety things people can do. Smoke detectors save lives. Also, make sure your house number is on your house so we can find it quickly. 

All of our firefighters are also paramedics or EMTs. We will send an ambulance and a firetruck on a call to get all hands on deck. If you get five medics on the scene, you have five people to do all the necessary lifesaving interventions to stabilize a patient before transporting them to the hospital. Our shift, the one that I'm on, is good at working together. We all know our place, we all have something that we're good at. When you get that critical call, we don't have to discuss anything, we just know what needs to get done. Because of that, we can get a patient stabilized in the ambulance to the hospital very quickly.”

Original source can be found here.