Firefighters search for unsafe conditions
BY PAT  KIMBROUGH
ENTERPRISE STAFF  WRITER
HIGH POINT  – A project aimed at improving emergency responses and protecting city firefighters could have other benefits as well.
Last year, a federal grant enabled the hiring of three part-time  workers through the High Point Fire Department to check city properties for missing address numbers and building conditions.
As a result, some  potentially unsafe buildings have been flagged for firefighters, while other vacant properties have been secured or demolished. “We got a lot of them torn down,” said High Point Fire Marshal Mike Levins, who coordinated the project. “There are still a lot of them out there, but you do see places where houses used to be or buildings that are being renovated.” There are more than 54,000 addresses in the city, and the workers checked all of them to see whether the properties’ addresses were properly labeled and to determine condition, Levins said.
Some vacant houses and commercial properties were marked with an “X,”  which lets firefighters know that the property “may not be structurally stable, so unless it’s imperative to go in for life, just be careful,” Levins said.
  Others were labeled with a diagonal marking, indicating that the building “is probably in pretty good shape.” Workers also posted signs on vacant properties where vandalism or fires had occurred, warning against trespassing.
“We’re  just trying to let people know that they need to look at these buildings in their neighborhoods, and if you see somebody entering these that shouldn’t be there, you need to notify law enforcement,” Levins said.
Officials tracked  down the owners of the flagged properties and sent them information about how to secure their buildings. City building department officials were also contacted about some of the properties, Levins said. The project ended after the grant ran out last fall.
pkimbrough@hpe.com  |888-3531

BUILDING CHECKS
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Of the more  than 54,000 properties in the city that were checked through a High Point Fire Department project, 485 vacant or abandoned buildings were located. Of these, 375 were found to be secure, while 110 were not.
  Eighty vacant homes or commercial sites were marked with an “X” as a warning to firefighters that the building is unsafe to enter. The project also turned up 447 commercial properties that were not on the fire department’s list to receive routine inspections. The properties were subsequently added to the department’s inspection rolls.