BERRYVILLE, VA (March 31, 2022) “Our response to a fire actually starts before we respond, and it begins with our Pre-Plan,” said Clarke County’s interim director of Fire, EMS & Emergency Management Don Jackson. “We simply want to know what we’re up against before we enter a burning structure.”

Shawn Reynolds is the firefighter-EMT tasked with gathering information for the department’s Pre-Plan project. Reynolds wants to visit all businesses in the county to see where hazardous materials are stored and where fire department connections are located. At each business, he will take notes about any chemicals, petroleum products, lumber, or other highly combustible materials on site. He will note available water sources and update contact information for use in emergencies.

Reynolds wants to go to large commercial facilities, auto body shops and garages, any building or barn that stores hazardous or highly flammable materials, restaurants, retail shops, schools, and churches. Reynolds also wants to visit child-care and adult-care facilities so firefighters know how many people may be in a building and how many may be invalids.

“More information about a building’s construction and its contents — especially in an industrial setting — is better,” said Reynolds, noting some businesses maintain Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), which are invaluable documents for firefighters.

Reynolds will also draw floorplans of each building. He will digitize these floorplans using a computer-aided dispatch program, and they will provide potentially life-saving information to firefighters responding to calls.

Jackson explained that Pre-Plan information is shared via radio and digital devices while firefighters are enroute to a blaze. “Our goal is to know everything we need to know to fight that fire and affect rescues when we enter the building.”

Jackson added the first firefighter on scene also provides a “size up,” communicating details about what they are seeing to those who are arriving.

“A ‘size up’ at a business is better affected when I can call up information about hazardous materials while on my way to the fire,” Jackson said.

Clarke’s Pre-Plan project will take time, and is never actually finished as there are always new businesses opening in the county.

“No one should worry about being cited during Pre-Plan visits,” Jackson added. “We don’t have the authority to do that. However, Shawn may suggest changes to how and where hazardous materials should be stored in order to save lives and property.”

Reynolds only recently began meeting with business owners, and is pleased they appreciate what the county’s volunteer fire companies do and what the Pre-Plan project aims to do. “I have only received positive reactions during visits.”

For more information about the Pre-Plan project or to schedule a site visit, contact Reynolds at sreynolds@clarkecounty.gov or Jackson at djackson@clarkecounty.gov.