Mitchell City Council adopts new fire codes, sparking discussion of fire inspection at rental properties

Dec. 20—MITCHELL — Changes are coming to the city’s fire codes after the Mitchell City Council adopted an international fire code on Monday night.

Mitchell Fire Marshal Shannon Sandoval broke down the changes and how they will impact the Mitchell area. According to Sandoval, the new fire codes will have a larger impact on building designs and multi-unit dwellings like apartments.

“Most of what is being proposed are changes to the building and design features, not necessarily how tradespeople do their day-to-day operations,” he said. “Another key feature is maintaining your business like drywall that may be coming apart.”

For living quarters, new hotels and apartments that consist of 20 or more dwellings will be required to have a sprinkler system installed, Sandoval said.

Mitchell’s new codes will include specific language for medical marijuana facilities and escape rooms, which are both emerging markets in the Mitchell area. Daily fire inspections at construction sites could also be implemented under the new codes.

Sandoval explained that the medical cannabis codes will address the equipment that’s used to produce marijuana. As of now, there is one building in Mitchell that’s been approved to grow and produce medical marijuana inside the former Runnings location on Burr Street.

While the fire regulations will bring changes to property owners, Sandoval stressed the purpose of adopting the 2021 International Fire Code is to “provide more safety in the community.”

Over the past year, Mitchell has seen a fair share of fires, public safety leaders say.

The discussion during Monday’s meeting shifted to residential fire inspections. Council member Susan Tjarks asked whether the new codes would track how many tenants in a rental property are paying rent to the property owner, referencing a past fatal fire that took place at a Mitchell home being rented out.

In response, Sandoval said there are challenges in tracking to see how many tenants are living in a dwelling. He pointed to ownership of rental properties being under an out-of-state LLC business entity and frequency of rental properties changing hands as several reasons that complicate fire officials’ ability to track how many tenants are occupying a rental property.

Sandoval explained the city’s fire inspection process for multi-unit rentals, which he emphasized will remain under the new regulations.

“Any person who owns an apartment rental that has two or more apartments is required by us to have an inspection done each year. We still do those, and that won’t change,” Sandoval said. “Most of the things I do during an inspection is looking for things that can cause imminent fire hazards like extension cords and other types of things.”