What does a fire watch guard do?

The shift, in order

The officer arrives with the log, a radio and a flashlight, meets the impairment coordinator or the permit holder, walks the affected areas once with them to learn the route, confirms the interval and the alarm method for a building whose system is down, and opens the log with the time. From then on the officer walks the route on the interval, checking each area, and between rounds stays where the post orders place them, near the phone or the radio and with a view of the most exposed area.

What a round checks

Smoke, heat and smell in every corridor, stairwell, mechanical room and storage area on the route. Exits clear and unlocked. Extinguishers and hose stations where the plan says they are. Doors that should be closed closed. New hazards that appear when people know the system is down: a space heater, a blocked corridor, hot work started without a permit, a contractor who has moved into a new zone. Each round is logged with the time, the areas covered and anything found.

If fire is found

Raise the alarm by the method in the post orders, which for a building without a working system may be voice, air horns, a radio call to staff or a phone tree. Call 911. Warn occupants and start them toward the exits by the building’s plan. Use an extinguisher only on a fire small enough to put out safely, and never on one that is growing. Meet the fire department at the entrance with the log and the panel information. Write it up the same day.

Hot work is a different post

On a welding, cutting or torch-roofing job the officer does not walk a route; the officer stays where the sparks go, keeps extinguishers within reach, keeps the area clear and stays for the post-work period the permit sets, then logs it. The fire watch shift article describes both kinds of shift from the officer’s side.