Cross Roads Podcast
Introducing LEFD Fire Marshal Chief James Connor
Fire Marshal James Connor tells a little about himself and offers some excellent fire safety tips for your home.
We thank him and those brave men and women for their hard work and service and who make Little Elm and Cross Roads a safer place to live.
Fire Marshal James Connor tells a little about himself and offers some excellent fire safety tips for your home.
We thank him and those brave men and women for their hard work and service and who make Little Elm and Cross Roads a safer place to live.
Cross Roads Podcast, For Those Who Want to Be in the Know, Who's Your Daddy? Good morning Cross Roads. We want to welcome to the show today Little Elm Fire Department's Fire Marshal, Chief James Connor. I want to thank you, Chief Connor for coming on the show today. Chief Connor, would you tell us a little about yourself and what you do as the Fire Marshal with Little Elm Fire Department?
Chief James Connor:Sure. Well, thank you, first of all for having me today. It's nice. Just a nice offer always to come and talk and I really appreciate you passing that invitation. A little bit about myself. I'm originally from a small parish outside New Orleans called St. Bernard. I grew up there spent most of my life there. I moved to Orlando lived in Orlando for a little while, moved to Las Vegas, where I really started my full time career in 911. I worked for a private ambulance service there that had the 911 contract for about four years, moved to Texas, mostly to go to paramedic school and my ex wife is from Carrollton. So the paramedic school down in Dallas, it's kind of changed. But at the time, it was like the second or third oldest paramedic school in the United States has a great reputation is hard to get into. I applied got lucky to get in because I was a non firefighter. So it kind of started my career there. I moved to little elm. And, you know, I was at the gas station one day, getting some gas and I see one of the firemen pull up in an ambulance and it said volunteer. And I was like, Hey, do you guys have volunteers fire department here. He's like, Yeah, we really could use some people. And I was like, I have all this experience. And I just happened to move to the right place be at the right time, getting gas at the right time. And that's kind of how I started my career with the fire department as the fire marshal, some of my day to day, of course, you know, I always check and make sure we haven't had any complaints. And one of the first things is check my email and phone calls, if somebody has called and needs assistance. You know, I try to go through and make sure I have my schedule lined out for the day, I'll always have a lot of inspections, to do new businesses, plan reviews, meetings, you know, I meet with the fire chief, you know, a couple times a week just to make sure where we are with new projects. And, you know, I just really get my day started from there. At any time I can be doing a fire investigation, and then have to quickly transfer, you know, transfer into something else. And so I really try to work on my schedule a lot, make sure I can plan my day out.
Steven Killfoil:That's interesting. Well, Mady and I are participating in your Citizens Fire Academy. And we both thank you and the Little Elm Fire Department for hosting this, as it is both exciting and fun learning about what our local heroes go through on a day to day basis. Well as the Fire Marshal, would you share with us today how you became the Fire Marshal, and what are some of Little Elm Fire Department's goals for Little Elm and some of the surrounding communities like Cross Roads?
Chief James Connor:Sure. So how I became the Fire Marshal? Oh, I kind of I joke about it. First of all, I love the job. And it's an honor to do it's a lot of responsibility. And I'm grateful for the opportunity to do it. Oh, it became the fire marshals, oral fire marshal retired and our chief sent out an email saying hey, we need some help with inspections. And, you know, I was working as an engine captain at Central firehouse and out I thought called my wife and talked to her and I'm like, this is a lot of overtime. And she's like, that sounds great. Go to work. So I signed up and then when I went to the chief's office, he was like James, here's the letter. This is, you know, the job description. What do you think? And I'm like, Chief That looks great. And he just this awkward silence. And he's like, Well, I want you to fill the job as interim and I was like, Well, I'm really gonna have to think about that. I I'd never saw that as a career path really. And I, what's interesting is because I've taken plans exam that are taking my fire investigator, I've done all the certifications you need, except for police going to the police academy. And I'd always helped and helped out the fire marshal with investigations and plan reviews and all those other things. And the opportunity came up. And, you know, I was excited for the opportunity, it's a big responsibility, I'd say some of our goals. You know, we're always working on making sure we're meeting our response times, and districts, you know, making sure we always have good the the right staffing levels, we're always trying to innovate, you know, if you when you and you'll see at the firehouse, guys are always working on the next best hose load, how to be more efficient, how to do the next thing better, faster, how to communicate a little bit better. And so as the fire department, what's been such a blessing for us is that we've always sat in a position where we've been able to be on the leading edge of a lot of those things, just when it came to our tactics, a lot of the things that we're doing now that you'll see other departments, maybe just starting to do, we've been doing for years, because we've been a smaller city. And we've been so progressive and just so aggressive with some of our tactics, in you know, other goals, you know, making sure we're managing the city's resources in the right manner, right, and providing the best service that we can to citizens. You know, with the fire marshal's office, really been trying to work on the customer service aspect, just making sure that we are available to people and approachable.
Steven Killfoil:That's great. That's great. In your day to day operations. Could you share with us some of the challenges you face as Fire Marshal?
Chief James Connor:Yeah, some of the challenges I face? Really, probably with anybody's business, especially for the Fire Marshal's office this communication? is there's a lot of working parts to building a new building, then, so you have data, then I get my permits that I did you get your plan review? Has your contractor been registered with the city as unapproved contractor? Because they have a permit? You know, do you need an inspection right now, because I can't get this step down until I do this step next. And so really, communication is one of the things that we that I really try to focus on. In my day to day and being available for people, there's nothing worse, in my opinion, if I'm a small business owner, you know, you're opening up the podcast studio, you're gonna rent a space and another building? Well, you have to submit a fire plan, you got to have an exit, you know, you have to have a fire extinguisher you have to have certain things have to get done. Well, sometimes you put those responsibilities in on a contractor and not a bad contractor. But people are busy. And so sometimes the communication lacks between you and that person. And so I try to bridge that gap, right and I try not to hold, I'm not going to let you do something unsafe. But I'm going to help you Hey, call this person to try and help pay. Reach out to your this contractor tell him you need these things. I'll be here Tuesday. Call me if he gets it sooner, I'll do my best to come by. So I try to do those things, especially for small business. Big business too. But on a small business point, a lot of people and little town this area where a lot of people's first business. Right? And so they're transitioning from one one job to opening up a sushi restaurant, for example, just random thought, well, if I never opened a sushi restaurant, I have no, you know, I know I want to I love sushi and I want to serve it. But maybe I don't understand how the kitchen hood system suppression system works? Or where do I find this contractor? Or I don't understand why I can't use wood covered on my walls. Right. So I tried to bridge those gaps. Now people are working.
Steven Killfoil:Yeah, there there's a lot involved in new construction, renovated construction, where, like you said, the guy wants to open up a sushi restaurant and he bought this building that used to be a State Farm Insurance office. And he's, you know, yeah, and get up to code on everything right? plumbing, electrical.
Chief James Connor:Yeah. And the book for the codes. We know, we kind of talked about it. If you put the two books together, it's like five inches thick. Well, if you're the guy who's opening up a new business, you don't understand that. And it's our job to help you understand it. And instead of, you know, I kind of joke about it. I tried to get compliance with kindness. Now I've thought about putting that over the door and in my offices, you know, you need to be compliant with the laws, and we need to make sure people are safe. But we can do it with kindness. And that kindness can be enforcement and doesn't have to be enforcement. And then a ticket. You know what I mean? I mean, there's a time and a place but we try with the kindness first.
Steven Killfoil:Right? Yeah, you could equate that codebook to I was just watching a special on religion the other day, and they had a an old copy of first edition copy of the 1611. King James Bible. And that's about that thick. Yeah. So you can say, yeah, that code books about the first edition of the King James Bible. Just 1911. And yeah,
Chief James Connor:just five inches not need good looking pictures like they probably had in that Bible.
Steven Killfoil:Amazing. It was amazing. Well, this week in class, you told us, how you how you identify fires, where they start, and some safety tips that you should apply at your home. Please, would you tell the listeners out here in the area about what they can do? At home? To prepare?
Chief James Connor:Yeah, I would say first thing is have a plan. Write the first response to any event is to have a plan before the event. And now it's easy for me to say we we talked about this was as I'm in what if business? That's kind of what we do? What if your house catches fire? What if it's this business, I don't want it to be the first time I've seen the back door of this business, you know, to understand that they'd has a security extra security features added. So for planning, I would say plan, right? If you have little kids, and set the fire alarms off one day in your house, you can test them they have a button, you can press and hold and see what they do. Help them get out where to go. That actual written out plan where your kids go to a safe place, or a meeting place where it's changed so many names. That's important. Because if I pull up at a fire, when they used to let me ride the fire truck is and I saw a child standing outside, then I knew there was a problem, right? immediately know there's a problem. Where's Mom, where's Dad, there's a kid living here. So having that plan is it's a big deal. And then that kid can really give me information, right? Because they they trust firemen. The kids are just taught that that's a trustable person. And so I can get good information from them. I would say next, besides a plan, you know, understanding escape routes, how to get in and out of your house, buy a fight get working smoke detectors get working smoke detectors. Yeah, I saw that I can't help myself, when I walk into a room, I'm always looking for that. I'm looking for a smoke detector that has a green light inside, get working smoke detectors. After that, get a fire extinguisher and keep it somewhere where you can grab it. Now understand having little kids, you don't want a little kid to be able to hurt themselves or play with it. But know where it is, if you have a shop in your garage, if you're working on a car in your garage, get a nice big fire extinguisher that's designed to put out an engine fire. I think we've unfortunately seen those things a woodshop get a fire extinguisher. You know, know how, if you have somebody in your home with special needs, make a list of a things. So if we ever come to your house and look in the heat of the moment, your heart rates, 170 beats a minute, your vision narrows you start to forget things you come you move into that, you know flight mode, if you have a list of those things, you can give them to us. And we'll have it and we'll know, okay, they take these medications, they have this medical problem, oh, we need to call this person as an interpreter. I mean, I've come across so many of those types of situations that just be prepared. You know, we moved to my wife's grandfather into our homes to pass away on hospice. And you know, it wasn't always at home. And I'm like, listen, we're gonna write everything down in case one of us is in here. And we have to call somebody this is these are the steps one through five to run through. And then somebody will call us, you know, call 911. First, of course, those types of things, just so that we know. Really, the plan is a big deal. You know, prepping yourself for an incident is really the best thing you can do. And just just to be prepared.
Steven Killfoil:That's great. Yeah, you heard it out there. All right. Well, when you're investigating a fire scene, about how long does it take you to determine whether or not it was just an accident? Or if it was actually arson? And what are some of the clues that you look for?
Chief James Connor:So that's a good question. So it can take a long time. And it can take it can be quick, right? It just kind of depends on the type of fire. So before we would ever say somebody we thought this fire was intentional. I need to find out where it started. Because I can't because of the way fire can work if I don't know if you had plastic hanging across your ceiling, like a plastic. I've had a plastic plant somebody had in their bedroom, and the fire started in the corner because they had they had covered or lamp with a piece of polyester cloth or something to darken the room. But what it looked like it was that plastic plant dripped down onto the ground and it kind of looked like a trail, maybe a trail similar, you would see if somebody were to pour fuel on the carpet and light the fuel on fire. So I never tried, I never start a fire investigation with my mind of is this an arson? I want to find out where the fire started. And then I want to try and determine what caused the fire. And then I can determine whether or not okay, we'll do I think this is an arson incident. But they you know, we had a fire yesterday. You know, we pulled up on scene I could, I could see what was on fire. You know, nobody was home kind of incident, it was pretty quick to say, okay, it was either this or this that caused the fire. Sometimes it can take longer, it just depends. You know, sometimes I've I've spent six hours digging off the roof of a of a bedroom trying to determine where the fire started because the ceiling had come down and all the things in the room had fallen over. And it had to be picked up and going through in order to find it. So it can vary. Sometimes a long time, sometimes not so long. So
Steven Killfoil:it's like one massive jigsaw puzzle turned upside down. And now he's got to go in and find all the pieces.
Chief James Connor:Yes, yes. And then you know, interview the person whose home it is, you know what, what was on the shelf. What was here? What was there? You know, if you if the fire started, I've had a fire that started in somebody's dresser drawer. And so I know the fire started here because I can see the pattern. But what was right here, right? Well, they moved the dresser because it was smoking. And then it smoked up too much. And it caught fire in the kitchen. Well, okay, it looks like something caught fire in the kitchen. But why is there marks on the wall in the bedroom? What was this? Oh, it was a dresser. Okay, so now now it looks like I have two fires. But really one fire started in one spot and the person moved to trying to get it out the house. So it just sometimes takes, you know, a lot of work and investigating. That's probably one of the better parts of the job. I always love to investigate fires. It's always challenging.
Steven Killfoil:So did you ever find out what was in the dresser that sparked?
Chief James Connor:Yeah, that they ended up getting arrested for what was sparked?
Steven Killfoil:Oh, yeah, just
Chief James Connor:a little bit of Shouldn't you shouldn't make you should make good choices. Let me just say, Yeah, you gotta make good choices.
Steven Killfoil:It's great.
Chief James Connor:No wonder they moved to that. Well, yeah, you may have saved the stash. Yeah, you may like it, but it's still illegal.
Steven Killfoil:Oh, Lord? Well, chief Connor, in your experience, what would you say is the most commonly neglected safety practice that people should do at home, that could help them and your team one coming out on a call to a home.
Chief James Connor:So that's a really good question to one of is, is your address visible? Okay. And now it's part of the code and a lot of cities that the address has to be a certain size just for us. And little, um, if you'd have a big building, that address has to be a certain size, the numbers have to be contrasting to the background that they're on. In your home is the same situation, you know, we all started out, we bought our houses with these nice little plants. Well, if it's like mine, that plant got real big, and it starts to cover your, it starts to cover up your address, right. So making sure that's visible from the street, having some lights on so we can see. So we can see your address is great, too. That's all it can always be a little difficult. One of the other real, you know, I'm gonna get back to my smoke detector things. If those are working, and they're going off and we pull up, we're coming in. Now, that doesn't mean we're going to break something first. But, you know, we've had I can't tell you how many times that I've been to a call the neighbors like, Oh, my, my neighbor's smoke detector has been going off for four hours. It's two o'clock in the morning, I can't sleep. And we walk up to the front door and I knock on the door nobody answers. And I look in the window and I'm like, well, the house is full of smoke. They left their stove on, you know doing so. Having smoke detectors can save your home and save your family too. The other thing I would say is, is buy a fire extinguisher. And don't be afraid to use it. Right don't say this sometimes it's a I got this fire. So like all the pots on fire, and we've all seen them on YouTube, the pot there. They have a pot of grease and it's on fire and they're walking around with it. And they're like, Oh, I got this. I'm gonna go over here and pour it down the sink. Like that's not a good idea. Right? I'm gonna put it in the sink, put water on it. I have a plan. If I have a pot of grease that can Just don't fire. What's my plan? If my plan is to use a fire extinguisher fine, use a fire extinguisher if I'm just going to cover it with something, cover with something. But you know having that plan. Try not to do that I got this fire. Wow, I got this fires tend to. Yeah, I mean, we've all seen those videos on YouTube. But what you usually don't see is the person who drops the pain or, you know the kids are running. I mean, we all have children, moms have children, they try to open the back door the dog wants to run out and now you spill the grease and now you have a real, you don't have a real problem. The fire? Yeah, or burn yourself or something else? Yeah, yeah, we've seen those two.
Steven Killfoil:Well as the Fire Marshal, do you personally inspect all newly built structures in your area? And does that include houses? I know it was so many homes being built in our area. I bet that would keep you very busy.
Chief James Connor:Yeah, I spend a lot of time driving, driving to little town. It's kind of we talked about it at the office one day, we were kind of joking, like who had the most miles on their vehicle. And I got them all beat. I do inspect all new commercial businesses multiple times. So if they put it in the normal business, let's just say we get back to our sushi restaurant, they're getting a kitchen hood system, a fire sprinkler system, a fire alarm, I'm going to come out and do a courtesy inspection, I'm going to come and make sure those guys have the proper licenses and permits while they're inspecting, then I have to inspect each one of those jobs, some of them multiple times, because there's more than one inspection. And then we do a overall finish inspection. I do some new residential inspections. Typically only when there's like a special need. Or if the home is over 5000 square feet and they're getting a sprinkler system, then I will do an inspection. But all homes, all businesses, anything getting built gets an inspection by somebody at multiple levels, especially within the town a little while. And I know a crossroads. They use up private, they use a company who we also use sometimes because sometimes they're just so busy. Then we use it we have a third party company that helps us out to help us to plan reviews and things like that, because there's just such a influx of new business and it and it's always changing.
Steven Killfoil:Oh, yeah, definitely. Well, is there anything else you'd like to add?
Unknown:Not, you know, thank you again, for having me, you know, out of the podcast, it's interesting sit on this side of the of the microphone. This time, it's nice. You know, I really enjoy having you guys at the citizens Fire Academy, you always have great questions. You know, it's interesting, this is this is 17 We've been having citizens Fire Academy for 17 years now, we did take a break during COVID. But, you know, those are once a year. And it's been a great program. And if you're listening in there as citizens Fire Academy, citizens Police Academy, a government Academy, it's great to see how that money is spent. And where those resources go to. Because a lot of times firemen or everybody just thinks we're eating food and you know watching TV but you come spend the day at the firehouse and it's far from that, you know, the young motivated guys and girls we have they're they're getting after it and it's you know, always raising the bar. So you know.
Steven Killfoil:And we're looking forward to our ride around. Oh, yeah, definitely.
Chief James Connor:Well, we had one of our one of your classmates missed the fire by about 45 minutes yesterday. I think he came walking in the guys are cleaning up he's like what's going on? Like, oh, oh, you're early but you missed the fire. Oh, wow. Kind of funny. Oh, well.
Steven Killfoil:Well, you heard it today from little elm fire department's fire marshal chief James Connor today. Thank you again for coming on Crossroads podcast chief Conner. And we wish you the best of luck as you and your fellow firefighters are card making Cross Roads a safe place to live. For questions or comments. Email us here at crossroadspodcast2023@gmail.com. If you want to be on the show, call us at 469-230-5956 Make sure to check on the town website www.crossroadstx.org for local meeting times in March. The following meetings are scheduled Monday March fifth Planning and Zoning meeting at 7pm. Wednesday March 6. Parks and Recreation board meeting at 6pm. Thursday March 14 Municipal Development District meeting at 6pm and Monday March 18. The town council meeting will convey at 6pm Here are some upcoming events to mark on your calendar on March 30. The egg Stravaganza at the town park. It's free entry. There'll be lots of kids out there there'll be an egg hunt The Easter Bunny games and other community events, volunteers are needed so reach out to Paula Paus at 214-770-2510 For more information, or come on out to the Parks and Rec meeting on the sixth and get all the details. April 20 9am to 11am Spring Cleanup at the town park, only Cross Roads residents are able to participate. The services will include general bulky trash disposal, paper shredding, computer crushing metal disposal, and wood chipping, tire disposal limit for per household, passenger side vehicles or smaller hazardous waste drop off will be appointment only and there will be a $20 charge for hazardous waste disposal. Hazardous Waste includes batteries oils cooking an auto herbicides paint light bulbs, fertilizers, cleaning agents medicines to schedule an appointment email Donna Butler at d.butler@crossroadstx.gov Sorry the town cannot accept CRT monitors TVs, large stumps or products containing Freon save the date for Crossroads second annual Founders Day on Saturday, September 21 2024 email events@crossroadstx.gov For more information on sponsorships or vendors. Some further announcements since no one submitted candidate applications on a place on the ballot. Only the incumbents filed applications and they did not draw any opponents, such as there will be no general municipal election on May 4 2024. Mayor Lynn Tompkins Jr. and council members Dave Meeks and Stephanie house right will begin their new two year terms in may tune in next week as we will have more amazing guests on the show. I'll see you at the top! Cross Roads Podcast, For Those Who Want to Be In the Know, who's your daddy!