Short Term Rental Fire Inspections

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times 

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  October 8, 2015. Fire Chief Mike Wahlberg noted that current inspections of short term rentals are being carried out.  Letters have been sent to all short term rental owners.  The inspections must be completed prior to having their license renewed the first of the coming year.

He asked if there would be some way to determine the difference between short term rentals and home businesses.  He noted that if the home contains a business that requires very little interaction with the public, he didn’t think that it was necessary to inspect those businesses.  He suggested that perhaps that type of business could be inspected at the time of the business opening and given a certification to indicate all fire prevention requirements had been met.

However, short term rentals not only have groups of people, but they stay for a day or two, using stoves, and all the various facilities within the residence making it much more vulnerable to fire.  As Wahlberg has been doing the inspections, he has discovered that many of the short term rentals have used their fire extinguishers, and they have not been refilled.  Batteries for both Fire alarms and CO alarms are either dead or have been removed.  He noted that he feels that the inspections are actually doing some good because owners need to be reminded to keep such items working and up-to-date.  He also noted that many of the short term rentals do not have exit signs or exit lights.  This is a requirement that needs to be met.

There are some 300 short term rentals within Garden City. So far, Wahlberg has not done nearly that many inspections.  He noted that near the end of the year, things are going to really stack up and asked what he should do to make sure that all of the homes are inspected on time.  It was decided that since this was the first year that an annual inspection has been imposed on short term rentals, a 30-day grace period could be granted.  However, in the future, owners will know that this is a yearly inspection and no grace period will be allowed. 

Wahlberg noted that those short term rentals that are handled by property management companies are much easier to deal with.  They get the properties ready and make arrangements to have them all scheduled and done in just a day or two.  Private individuals, however, seem to be where the problems might arise.  Wahlberg noted that he felt appointments needed to be made by December 1 in order to meet the deadline. 

It was suggested that another letter be sent to the short term rental owners that includes a list of items that the Fire Chief specifically checks for.  This may speed things up.  Currently, he has gone to several homes, turned them down, and has to make a repeat visit.  If owners are more aware of exactly what is required and take care of the items, return visits will not be needed nearly as often.