Fire Inspector

Modified: August 20, 2019 12:03pm

COUNTY OF ERIE - DEPARTMENT OF PERSONNEL
invites applications for the position of:

Fire Inspector

#64-331 - Open Competitive (open to the public)

Salary: SALARIES VARY
Opening Date: August 20, 2019
Closing Date: September 11, 2019
Application fee: $20.00

Residence Requirements:

CANDIDATES MUST HAVE BEEN LEGAL RESIDENTS OF ERIE COUNTY FOR AT LEAST ONE MONTH IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE DATE OF THE WRITTEN TEST AND MUST BE LEGAL RESIDENTS OF ERIE COUNTY AT THE TIME OF APPOINTMENT. There is one present vacancy at the Village of Kenmore ($45,000 - $50,000 annually) and one vacancy at the Town of Amherst ($49,412 - $68,499 annually). 

Preference may be given to successful candidates who have been residents of the municipality in which the appointment is to be made for one month preceding the date of the certification of the eligible list and who are residents of the municipality at the time of appointment.  Non-residents may be required to become a resident of the appointing municipality if local law so states.

Examples of Duties:

A Fire Inspector makes detailed inspections of occupancies to ascertain compliance with laws and ordinances pertaining to fire prevention;

Makes detailed inspections of buildings and structures to ascertain compliance with and enforcement of the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code;

Performs safety inspection work for the elimination of fire hazards;

Makes detailed inspections and reports of all types of occupancies, buildings and properties within the municipality to insure conformity with fire prevention standards, codes and ordinances;

Notifies owners of unsafe conditions;

Makes special investigations of gasoline stations to determine compliance with applicable fire safety standards and ordinances;

Recommends remediall precautions for any unsafe conditions of buildings, roads, etc.;

Explains the requirements of the Municipal Fire Prevention Code and the New York state Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code to building contractors and the general public;

Orders unsafe conditions to existing structures to be removed and arranges for condemnation notices to owners and builders of improper or hazardous structures;

Serves court appearance summons on the responsible parties in all types of occupancies, buildings and properties within the municipality for any violation of the New York state Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code, New York state Industrial Code Rule 36 and other municipal ordinances and laws that relate to fire safety and fire prevention;

Investigates complaints and assists in prosecuting violations of the New York state Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code;

May conduct investigations of the source, origin and circumstances of fires;

Examines plans submitted for a building permit to determine compliance with fire safety provisions of the Building Code.

Qualifications:

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:  Candidates must meet the following requirements on or before the date of the written test:

Graduation from high school or possession of a high school equivalency diploma and two (2) years of experience* (see Note 1)  as a Fire Fighter or Fire Inspector.

Notes:

1. *Completion of one (1) year or thirty (30) semester hours of study at a regionally accredited or New York state registered two ( 2) or four ( 4) year college or university majoring in fire science or related curriculum may be substituted for one ( 1) year of the above experience.

2. Special Training Certification Requirement required under Section 159-A New York State Executive Law:

434.5 Certification of code enforcement personnel.

(a) The New York state Fire Administrator shall certify code enforcerrent personnel as having successfully conpleted one or more of the training programs set forth in this Part as follows:

Probationacy and non-permanent code enforcement personnel scheduled to perform code enforcement duties an average of nore than 20 hours per week shall successfully complete a certified basic training program within 18 months of initial appointment. Code enforcement personnel not appointed for probationary terms but appointed on other than a permanent basis and scheduled to perform code enforcement duties an average of between 10 and 20 hours per week shall successfully complete a certified basic training program within 24 months of initial appointment. Code enforcement personnel not appointed for probationary terms but appointed on other than a permanent basis and scheduled to perform code enforcenent duties an average of less than 10 hours per week shall successfully complete a certified basic training program within 36 months of initial appointment. Training may be suspended during periods of non-service, but all periods of service shall be counted toward the fulfilllnent of the applicable requirement.

(b) Equivalent New York state Fire or Code Enforcement Training courses, federally-sponsored course, courses taught at an accredited college or university or courses taught by a professional society may be substituted, in whole or in part as the case may be, for the specific course requirements contained in this Part. Adequate documentation regarding course content and attendance shall be submitted to the state Fire Administrator as a prerequisite to certification.

3. Verifiable part-time and/or volunteer experience will be pro-rated toward meeting full-time experience requirements.

Examination date:

October 19, 2019

Applications Must Be Postmarked or Hand Delivered By:

September 11, 2019

The New York State Department of Civil Service has not prepared a test guide for this examination. However, candidates may find information in the publication 'General Guide to Written Tests' helpful in preparing for this test. This publication is available on line at:https://www.cs.ny.gov/testing/testguides.cfm.

Subjects of Examination:

Subjects of Examination: A test designed to evaluate knowledge, skills and /or abilities in the following areas.

Preparing written material
These questions test for the ability to present information clearly and accurately, and to organize paragraphs logically and comprehensibly. For some questions, you will be given information in two or three sentences followed by four restatements of the information. You must then choose the best version. For other questions, you will be given paragraphs with their sentences out of order. You must then choose, from four suggestions, the best order for the sentences.

Evaluating conclusions in light of known facts
These questions will consist of a set of facts and a conclusion. You must decide if the conclusion is proved by the facts, disproved by the facts or if the facts are not sufficient to prove or disprove the conclusion. The questions will not be specific to a particular field.

Fire prevention, fire inspections, and fire hazards
These questions test for a knowledge of the methods, principles, practices, and equipment of fire prevention, conducting fire inspections, and dealing with fire hazards. The questions cover such areas as the following: fire prevention campaigns; automatic and other extinguishment systems; alarms; dealing with building owners and managers; characteristics of combustible materials; recognizing proper and improper practices related to fire prevention; and codes and regulations related to fire prevention.

Understanding and interpreting fire codes
These questions test for the ability to comprehend written material related to fire prevention and inspection. You will be provided with a brief reading passage. You must then select the most appropriate statement relating to the passage on the basis of whether it:
a. accurately paraphrases portions of the passage; or b. adequately summarizes the passage; or c. presents an inference that can reasonably be drawn from the passage.

The reading passages are drawn from existing New York State and national codes, regulations, and standards. Knowledge of the subject matter contained in the reading passages is generally not related to answering the questions successfully because all of the information needed can be found in the passages.

NOTICE TO CANDIDATES: Unless otherwise noted, candidates are permitted to use quiet, hand held, solar or battery powered calculators. Devices with typewriter keyboards, "Spell Checkers", “Personal Digital Assistants", "Address Books", "Language Translators", "Dictionaries", or any similar devices are prohibited. You may not bring books or other reference materials.

**IMPORTANT APPLICATION FEE - READ CAREFULLY**

A $20.00 filing fee is required for this exam. The required fee must accompany your application. Send or bring check or money order made payable to Erie County Personnel Department and write the examination number(s) on your check or money order. Do not send or bring cash, as the County cannot be responsible for cash payment. As no refund will be made, you are urged to compare your qualifications carefully with the requirements for admission and file only for those examinations for which you are clearly qualified.