NEWS IN BRIEF
Breathing gear gets trial by fire
Heat and flame tests undemay at Lawrence Livermore (CA) National Laboratory are aimed at providing firefighters with the most effective breathing apparatus possible. Scientists at the facility use a testing device that simulates intense heat and explosive flame conditions comparable to flashover to determine how a firefighter’s coat, face mask, and associated air hoses and neck straps respond to the stresses.
The tests, explains Jim Johnson, special projects division leader in the Hazards Control Department, are carried out using the upper torso and head of a mannequin wearing the gear. Special equipment pumps air in and out of the mask—in much the same way a firefighter might breathe while fighting a fire —throughout the test. The testing protocol includes baking the mannequin in an industrial type oven at 20()°F for about 15 minutes, searing it with a 1,500°F direct flame on the front and back for 10 seconds, and dropping the outfitted mannequin “to a sudden, dead weight.’ seven-inch drop,” explains Don Beason, Johnson’s assistant.
The objective, according to Beason, “is to see if the mask, hoses, and straps can beat our ‘two-second’ test and if the apparatus will stay together after being jarred severely.” If the apparatus continues to burn for more than two seconds after the flames are turned oft or if they are damaged by the fall, the equipment does not pass.
To date, Johnson reports, “every combination of apparatus we’ve tested has failed the burn test. Even so, most current face masks are pretty reliable and offer firefighters a reasonable amount of protection.”
Fatal fires in Paterson, Philadelphia kill four firefighters, injure others
On January 17, a fire in a commercial structure in Paterson, New’ Jersey, resulted in the death of John A. Nicosia, a 28-year-old Paterson firefighter. The fire began in a women’s apparel shop on Main Street and due in part to high winds quickly spread through adjacent buildings, most of them part of the former Meyer Brothers department store complex. Flying embers ignited two fires on adjacent streets. More than 50 departments sent apparatus to respond or relocate over a 2!/2-dav period.
On February 24, a fire raged for more than 18 hours through eight floors of the 38-story One Meridian Plaza office building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, killing three firefighters—Captain David Holcomb, 52, Phyllis McAllister, 44, and James A. Chappell, 29. Fire spread from the 22nd to the 29th floor and was finallycontained on the 30th floor by the building’s limited automatic sprinkler system (only the top 10 floors were sprinklered). Water supply, power source, and logistical problems all contributed to rapid fire extension. Intense heat seriously weakened the upper half of the building, which w-as in danger of collapse.
Look for a full treatment of both fires in upcoming issues of Fire Engineering.
Asbestos abatement industry lax on fire safety?
The majority of asbestos abatement contractors do not comply with federal fire safety training and equipment requirements at their job sites, charges Fidelity Environmental Insurance Company (FEIC) of Princeton, New Jersey. Monitoring more than 200 contractors, FEIC field investigators documented 42 fires at these sites in 10 states and Canada over the past nine years. At least tw-o of these fires caused more than S100 million in property damage each. These findings and others are included in the FEIC study “Fire Hazards at Asbestos Abatement Sites.”
The investigators reported that asbestos abatement contractors as a group (the industry is estimated to be worth S3-5 billion) have a lowlevel of understanding of fire safety precautions. evidenced in the following:
- 77 percent of the contractors surveyed did not provide worker fire extinguisher training as required by OSHA 29 CFR 1926.150 (a)(5).
- 81 percent did not have adequate plans for designating and visibly marking containment barrier “breakthroughs” and avenues of exit for workers should fire necessitate quick evacuation.
- 91 percent had substandard emergency lighting equipment that would not facilitate the orderly evacuation of a site suddenly darkened by fire damage to the electrical system.
- Fire watches frequently are not stationed at torching and cutting operations at abatement sites as required by ANSI standards; this might have been the cause of at least nine recent fires at asbestos abatement sites.
FEIC notes that combustible polyethylene sheeting and air-moving systems used at abatement sites create a situation conducive to the rapid spread of fire and that at least three major cities—Boston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles—have enacted special fire regulations for asbestos abatement work.
Many factors affect corrosion
“A variety of parameters need to be addressed when devising tests designed to regulate materials on the basis of the corrosive potential of their smoke,” according to Marcelo M. llirschler, manager of the Fire Sciences Department in the Geon Vinyl Division of the B. F. Goodrich Company. “The amount and composition of the smoke generated, the ambient humidity and temperature can often have more of an effect on corrosion in a fire than the type of material combusted.”
Following are some of the other observations made by llirschler as he addressed the International Wire & Cable Symposium recently held in Reno, Nevada:
- Smoke from all burning materials is corrosive, even if they do not contain acid gases.
- Corrosion is a consequence of heat, condensed water vapor, and oxygen as well as smoke.
- The composition of smoke from a burning material depends on the way the material is combusted. For most materials, as the air/fuel ratio under which the material burns decreases, combustion is less complete and the corrosivity of the smoke generated increases significantly.
- Materials with good fire properties such as low rate and amount of heat release actually can contain fire corrosiveness by keeping the fire cooler and decreasing its rate of propagation.
Academy gets new sprinkler lab
A new sprinkler laboratory recently was dedicated at the Academy of Fire Science in Montour Falls, New York. Secretary of State Gail S. Shaffer, principal speaker at the dedication, lauded the new laboratory as “an excellent partnership of industry and government.” Participants in the project included members of the National Fire Sprinkler Association, Inc.’s Regional Committee #36 and Sprinkler Fitters Local #669. The new facility will be used to train firefighters, code enforcement officials and, it is hoped, members of the sprinkler industry.
National disaster bill reintroduced
Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA) introduced on January 3, the opening day of the 102nd Congress, the National Disaster Preparedness Inventory Act of 1991 (H.R. 237).
It would require the Federal Emergency Management Agency to prepare an inventory of all resources available to the federal government for use in responding to major disasters and emergencies within two years of enactment. The measure also calls for the establishment of a committee to determine the types of resources that should be included in the inventory and requires FEMA to develop within one year of completion of the inventory a plan for the deployment of the inventoried resources to the disaster or emergency sites.
AFSA endorses sprinkler inspection program
The American Fire Sprinkler Association (AFSA) has endorsed a new legislative program that would make mandator)’ in each state the annual, semiannual, or quarterly inspection, testing, and maintenance of all fire sprinkler systems by qualified contractors.
“Currently, the inspection, testing, and maintenance of fire sprinkler systems in all jurisdictions are of uneven quality and too often by unqualified persons,” states AFSA President Frank Riseden. “I believe the only way to solve this problem is by mandating inspection by qualified contractors.”
IAFC Foundation offers scholarship
Individuals active in any state, county, provincial, municipal, community, industrial, or federal fire department are eligible to apply to the IAFC Foundation for a S250 scholarship to a recognized institution of higher education. Dependents are not eligible.
Priority will be given to applicants demonstrating need, desire, and initiative. Applications must be received by June 15; winners will be notified by August 31. For an application or additional information, contact Dene Thomas, IAFC Foundation, 1329 18th St., NW, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 833-3420.
Emergency manager certification
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has awarded the National Coordinating Council on Emergency Management (NCCEM), based in Falls Church, Virginia, S175.000 to continue the development of standards (Phase III) for the new designation “certified emergency manager” over the next two years.
This phase of the project includes the creation of an examination and application materials, a pilot testing of the program, the development of an organization to oversee the program, and the implementation of campaigns to promote and obtain endorsements. Work completed during the two previous phases and under previous grants includes job analyses for nine functions of local emergency managers, an inventory of state-legislated qualifications, a list of training and educational opportunities, and proposed staffing patterns for jurisdictions.
Credential requirements, which still may be modified, include the equivalent of three years of full-time experience, references from peers, active coordination/leadership involvement in one functional exercise and either one full-scale exercise or actual event within the previous two years, proof of emergency management training/education within the previous five years (100 hours has been proposed), and proof of additional training (100 hours proposed) from among the areas of general management, adult instruction, marketing/public relations, information management, emergency equipment, and communications hardware.
All emergency managers, regardless of educational levels, can apply for certification during the first year of the program, which is projected to begin in January 1993. A four-year college degree will be required for certification after the first year.
For more information on certification, contact Elizabeth Buzzerd, NCCEM Executive Director, 7297 Lee Highway, Suite N, Falls Church, VA 22042, (703) 533-7672, fax: (703) 241-5603.
