I-Team: Who does fire safety inspections in Cleveland?

CLEVELAND (WJW) — The FOX 8 I-Team has uncovered more mystery surrounding regular fire safety inspections not getting done even in Cleveland’s tallest and busiest buildings.

New questions surfaced as we investigated to find out who’s working in the Cleveland Fire Prevention Bureau.

Last week, we revealed the city has no records of “general inspections” of “maximum risk buildings.” We checked for the last two years. So, we did more digging.

The I-Team filed a records request for staffing in the Cleveland Fire Prevention Bureau. We asked for the number of positions and the number of openings. The city responded by telling us it had no records.

So, we followed up by asking, “How can the city have no idea about staffing in the unit overseeing fire inspection?”

The city then sent a 2022 annual report.

It showed the Fire Prevention Bureau staffed with supervisors, 16 lieutenants and two captains, as well as one civilian.

We also requested some daily assignments and daily activities for workers in fire prevention. But again, there were no “responsive records.”

Last week, we approached the mayor after a public event and he wouldn’t answer questions from us about this.

He promised City Hall would follow up with us, but that never happened.

We’ve seen fire inspections tied to construction projects and issues found during emergencies.

But again, there are no records of regular, fire safety inspections.

The issue will likely come up before City Council within days during budget hearings. Now, more questions.