Westminster : Firefighters Offer Free Day-Care Inspections

The Westminster Fire Fighters Assn. is asking all day-care operators in the city to call the Fire Department for a free fire-safety inspection.

The association and the Westminster Fire Department earlier had volunteered to do the inspection and install fire detectors in all day-care homes at no cost to the operators. The project was in response to a fire in a day-care home that killed two children in Huntington Beach.

But when the association and the Fire Department went to the county to find out the names and addresses of all day-care homes in Westminster, they were told that due to state privacy laws, officials could not provide them with the names of homes that care for six or less children.

“We are also requesting all parents that have children in day-care homes in Westminster (to) demand those operators receive an inspection from the Fire Department,” said Paul Gilbrook, president of the Westminster Fire Fighters Assn.

Gilbrook said the association will provide an approved smoke detector for the day-care home if it does not have one already and that an off-duty Westminster firefighter will install it.