Fire Marshal Mike Casey and Risk Management Officer Shana Hurst presented the department’s community risk-reduction program to the Public Safety Committee, detailing building-code work, inspection activity, public education and targeted outreach to multifamily housing.

Casey said the department is working to adopt the 2024 fire and building codes and that staff are concluding commercial-code committee work with residential review to follow; the goal is to complete updates by May (staff-estimate). Hurst said the department carried out more than 5,000 fire inspections last year and works with building safety and zoning to address illegal construction, changes of use and other hazards discovered during inspections.

The presentation emphasized prevention: smoke-alarm and CO-detector distribution (more than 360 smoke alarms installed in two years), door-to-door outreach following serious neighborhood fires, a youth fire-center diversion and education program, and partnership with multifamily property managers through a “crime-free multifamily housing” class that includes fire-safety topics. The city also runs fourth-grade fire-safety instruction in local school districts and offers Spanish-language “after the fire” resource books for affected households.

Hurst and Casey highlighted social-media outreach, CPR training partnerships (450 people trained), and a PulsePoint effort to register AEDs. When asked about rental inspections, staff said Overland Park relies on invitations for interior educational visits and does not routinely perform mandatory interior rental inspections under the city’s interpretation of state statute.

Committee members asked for more detail about the building-code committee membership and timelines; staff said the committee includes invited local stakeholders and civic/building professionals and agreed to share the participant list by email. No formal action was taken.