Firefighter Approval

SMC Firefighters 1921

While sitting at work in San Mateo last spring, a city firefighter came to the office. He was dressed in full firefighter apparel, had the truck in the parking lot, and proceeded to explain the various ways in which our office was not up to code. Then he handed over a paper that said we owed a specific sum of money - to be paid on the spot. The whole thing was a little amiss ... Clearly the owner of the building, not the tenants, should pay for any such violations, and why the urgency, on the spot payment? When we suggested this to the said firefighter, he got a little uneasy and said it would be better if we paid right now, and signed the form. We didn't. He left quickly. We looked up the issue, and sure enough, it was a scam. While there was a geographic area in San Mateo that the various precautionary codes applied to, our office was well outside that territory.

Lviv Fire Department

That was one experience that set our fears of Ukrainian corruption at bay a bit. We realized no matter where you do business (Lviv or San Mateo) someone is out to make a buck on the less suspecting.

Our construction company Abelit tried to convince us today that our current dryer set-up would never pass the Lviv firefighter approval - we needed to drill a hole in the roof behind the dryers for ventilation ... more time, and more money. We already know (an expensive lesson) that this construction firm is not always straight forward and certainly have their best interest in mind at all times - more work, more time, more money.

So, we brought in the big guns and had the Lviv fire department walk through and get it from the horses mouth - are we up to code? The verdict ... No need to drill another ceiling hole! We were right - Abelit was wrong. Great news. See, Ukraine isn't so corrupt after all ... well, at least not the firefighters.