Community Risk Reduction Division Public Education/Safety Code Enforcement Fire Investigations W.A.R.N. Program Thank you for visiting the Franklin Township Community Risk Reduction Page. The Community Risk Reduction Division is comprised of Public Education, Code Enforcement, and Fire Investigations. The division is managed by Division Chief James Helton and is assisted by Inspector / Fire Investigator Thomas Beckner. Our aggressive public education campaign focuses on school children K-3 and senior citizens. With the help of community donations, we have purchased a Fire Safety Trailer to give children a more practical approach on fire safety. The trailer travels to several events throughout the year, including neighborhood functions. During the warm months of the year, the fire department hosts a ‘Community Day’ in Franklin Township neighborhoods. On these days we like to show the community what services they receive once an emergency has been declared. Everything from fire trucks to tactical dive equipment and thermal imaging cameras are on hand to demonstrate. We have developed a child identification kit to include a digital photo printed on site and placed into a data bank. If you are interested in a ‘Community Day’ or your group taking a tour of the safety trailer, please feel free to contact us. Code Enforcement consists of inspecting new construction to enforce local fire and building code. All new businesses are required to make buildings safer incase of emergency. It is our responsibility to ensure the contractors are following these strict guidelines. We are also responsible for inspecting all existing businesses. Although older buildings are not required to have the code requirements of today, we still visit these buildings annually to check for hazards. After any structural fire has been marked a ‘working fire’, it is our job to investigate the fire for origin and cause. If a fire is deemed arson, we report the incident to Marion County Sheriff’s Department and a criminal case is initiated. We then work with the sheriff’s department cooperatively to bring up charges of arson on the subject.