SPECIAL REPORT: Preventing the next big structure fire

After 10 years of slowing down inspections of commercial buildings in Salinas, the Salinas Fire Department is bringing back a dormant commercial building inspection program to prevent the next big fire from happening.

When the discussion was first brought up, what came to mind for Salinas Fire was the Dick Bruhn General Store fire back in February 2016.

The flames were so intense they seared into the memories of the store’s neighbors.

“I saw a crash and then glass got broken,” says Taste of Thai owner Yang Tse. “Then I see the smoke coming right out of the building on the third floor.

The building left a scar that still stands in Old Town today.

The first floor is boarded up while the top floor still has netting from when the city was protecting people from falling debris.

Some owners are concerned about the next big fire, too.

It could mean business being shut down during the recovery process, just as what happened with Taste of Thai and other businesses in the Old Town area.

Tse says she’s concerned something like that or worse could happen again.

“We have a gas line here, so if anything happened that time it would’ve caused a big explosion,” says Tse.

Deputy Chief Sam Klemek with Salinas Fire says he has heard the fears business owners have ,but he also has his own.

“Everybody thinks of the major incident- the major conflagration that destroys a business,” says Klemek. “A single business, their inventory and their jobs. What’s often lost in the conversation is how that affects other businesses.”

Up until recently, the Fire Department says they did not have the staff to conduct fire safety inspections of commercial businesses in the city.

No fire safety checks equals the potential for devastating fires taking place, which would deal a serious blow to the already struggling Salinas economy.

The U.S. Small Business Administration says over 90 percent of small businesses fail within two years of a catastrophe, such as a fire.

FEMA says 40 percent never re-open while another 25 percent fail altogether.

Salinas Fire says the numbers are no different from what Salinas goes through.

“A lot of businesses are mom-and-pop shops that don’t have the means to survive a catastrophic event like that,” says Klemek.

Klemek says it may take months until Salinas Fire gets caught up with the more than 10,000 licensed businesses needing inspections in Salinas.

“Often times our major opportunity to get into these businesses, commercial occupancies, are when they change ownership, tenants, or when they pull permits to do work,” he says.

There’s concern about vacant commercial buildings, too.

Should they become vacant for too long, they accumulate debris. From there all it takes is a warming fire gone wrong for the building to go up in smoke, and possibly a nearby business.

Yang Tse supports city inspections but also believes businesses should take responsibility and install their own fire protection.

“A fire will not only cause you damage but it’ll cause damage to your neighbors, the whole block, maybe something worse,” Tse says.

Commercial inspections might begin as early as July 1st.

Salinas Fire is also finalizing a report which would lay out “disaster scenarios” for the city.

Some scenarios include using resources from outside of the city to put out fires.

It may also include relocating fire stations to better help the community.