Now that I have picked my jaw up off of the floor and my fingers now have feeling back in them I wanted to share. I was thinking about opening another Haunt in a different city. I spoke with the Fire Marshall - because they are paid city firefighters they charge by the hour - $200 PER HOUR - it would cost over $15 thousand just for the fire department to be onsite- Your thoughts?
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$15,000.00 Fire Department
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Is this a fire watch fee? sounds normal for a fire watch but surely there are conditions that can be met to make that unecessary.
Allen H
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Try to work out a deal with them like they don't charge you but get to charge a 1 dollar parking fee / donation on site that way on a good night they could make plenty of money? this basically looks like you need to sit down with the head of the local department and discuss your situation with them. Citys many times forget that it takes some sort of entertainment venue to bring money into the local economy.Proud to be able to work at
http://www.haunted-hollow.com/
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I don’t know if you stated this before but do you need to have them on site? Is this a requirement from the town or insurance?
My brother is a fireman and I can tell you he does not make $200 an hr. This sounds like a crew will be there truck and all.
What if they get another call and they leave? This sounds strange...
Peter T
FSLast edited by FablesStudios; 06-23-2010, 12:54 PM.
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Peter,
the officer does not make $200 an hour, the city just charges that much for them to be there. Plumbing companies charge $100 an hour in labor but the plumber may only make $35 of that. The city is just doing the same thing.
The city will be very hesitant to "work out a deal" with you as then it looks to the public like you are partners with them. That inferred partnership is a liability risk.
Find out the reason you need a fire watch and then see if it costs less than $15,000 to make it so you dont need one.
If you are charging $10 per person then $200/ hour is only 20 customers per hour to cover that cost, If you are charging $20/ hour then its only ten people /hour. Yes its high but if you arent doing 50 people per hour then is it worth being open that night?
Allen H
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I hate to tell you this but....dealing with a career dept. is WAY differant thena Vol. Dept. They have to follow Union contract agreements, work comp, etc. etc. The fee you are seeing is the charge the city will charge you for the crew and apparatus. I would recommend finding a differant location. There is no such thing as a donation for this deal. Good Luck.
Buck
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The building does not have a sprinkler system so they require and engine with 3 fire fighters on site - the $200/hr is set in stone (city fire department) they will not budge!! Needless to say we will not be using that building or FD. I think we may not expand this year and just continuing looking for another building for next year... One that does not require a FD on site!
I used to be Snow White, but I drifted.
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Our fire marshal just had us use one of our volunteers at the entrance and exit to keep a watch for fire or emergencies with a radio/walkie talkie. They could be in costume, but not straying from their post or scaring. It worked well and since our actors are volunteer it saved cost a lot. But that was just our experience.
Kirk
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