The Pender County Office of Emergency Management is responsible for Emergency Management activities and Fire Marshal services.
Emergency Management activities are divided into 4 phases. All four phases are focused on the goal of protecting
life and safety and minimizing property damages and losses.
Preparedness
and Planning: The identification of the hazards that could impact
the county in part or in whole, and determining how emergency service agencies
will respond to minimize the occurrence of that hazard. This step also involves education of the
general public as to how to prepare themselves for the events surrounding an
occurrence.
Response: After an
event occurs, emergency services agencies including fire, rescue, EMS, and Law
Enforcement respond with the goal of assisting the injured and preventing
further injuries. The second priority
is protection and preservation of property.
Though training, education, and drills responders learn the safest and
quickest way to respond to a variety of incidents and how to protect themselves
from injury during that response.
Recovery: Recovery
is essentially getting back to normal.
It includes rebuilding and repairing, but in some cases relocation. Recovery can be a long-term process
depending on the incident.
Mitigation:
Using legislation and construction codes, building practices are
changed that will prevent future damages from storms. Occasionally this may occur through relocation of residents to
areas that are not susceptible to the effects of storms. Many times grants are provided to assist
citizens in relocation.
The Office of the Fire
Marshal is responsible for Fire Prevention inspections within the
unincorporated areas of Pender County.
Inspections are conducted in Schools, Public Buildings, Businesses,
Offices and Churches based upon the requirements of the North Carolina Building
Code. Inspection services are also
available for Foster Care Homes and Day Care Homes. The Fire Marshal is also responsible for the determination of the
cause and origin of fires as requested by the County fire departments,
investigation of burning code complaints, and investigations of illegal
burning.