Joining with those heralding the contributions of women to our nation during Women’s History Month (March), U.S. Fire Administrator Kelvin Cochran asked his fellow fire service leaders to join him in “celebrating the contributions of all women, past and present, in the American Fire Service.
“On behalf of the dedicated men and women of the U.S. Fire Administration, we are grateful for your dedication and commitment to our mission,” Cochran said. “We are proud and honored to witness the efforts of all firefighters in service today, protecting their communities.”
Line-of-Duty Deaths
March 1. Firefighter/Inspector Brian P. Wynant Sr., 45, Wilmington (DE) Fire Department: struck by an Amtrak train while on foot; Delaware State Police are investigating.
March 5. Chief Brian Rowe, 66, West Fork (ME) Volunteer Fire Department: heart attack.
March 6. Firefighter Gerard Marcheterre, 50, Borodino Fire Department, Skaneateles, NY: apparent heart attack.
March 10. Fire Police Captain Kevin Swan, 69, Beacon Hose Co. No. 1, Beacon Falls, CT: found unresponsive in his truck in his driveway; investigation underway.
March 13. Firefighter Donald “Donnie” Atkins, 32, Glasgow (WV) Fire Department: boat capsized while on swift water rescue; body identification pending.
March 21. Firefighter Tommy Wright, 20, Blowing Rock (NC) Fire Department: motor vehicle accident while returning from training; cause of accident under investigation.
March 21. Firefighter Jeremy Bolick, 23, Blowing Rock (NC) Fire Department: motor vehicle accident while returning from training; cause of accident under investigation.
Source: USFA Firefighters Memorial Database
Kansas fire service helps defeat anti-sprinkler bill
Fire safety advocates in Kansas helped defeat what they described as a “dangerous piece of legislation” in February when they lobbied against House Bill 2515, which would have prohibited local jurisdictions from adopting sprinkler requirements in homes. Local jurisdictions will be able to make their own choice regarding sprinkler provisions.
Chief Bob McLemore, president of the Kansas State Association of Fire Chiefs, called the bill “a step in the wrong direction.” All model safety codes now include a provision for home fire sprinklers in new one- and two-family homes. “Instead of denying jurisdictions the ability to better protect their citizens, we need to be working to provide a higher level of fire protection,” he added.
Proponents of the bill maintained that sprinklers cost too much. A recent research report concluded that home fire sprinklers cost an average of $1.61 per sprinklered square foot. Kansas figures are shown to be at or below that national average. Additional information on home fire sprinklers is at www.firesprinklerinitiative.org/.
NFFF holds Everyone Goes Home® Summit
The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) held its annual Everyone Goes Home® Safety Summit in Emmitsburg, Maryland, the first weekend in March. A large group of the Everyone Goes Home® and the Courage to Be Safe(SM) state advocates attended the event. The Summit’s overall objective was to explore ways for decreasing the number of firefighter line-of-duty deaths. Attendees agreed to pursue the recommendations of increasing the numbers of Everyone Goes Home® state advocates and Courage to be Safe(SM) instructors in each state so that more firefighter training can be offered.
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| (L-R) Tim Sendelbach, editor in chief, FireRescue; Janet Wilmoth, editorial director, Fire CHIEF; Harvey Eisner, editor, Firehouse; and Bobby Halton, editor in chief, Fire Engineering. |
Among the speakers at the three-day event was U.S. Fire Administrator Kelvin Cochran, who addressed “The Spirit of the American Firefighter.” Other presentations explained how the 16 Life Safety Initiatives relate to wildland firefighting and to the Charleston Sofa Super Store fire. Attendees heard presentations from the Everyone Goes Home® Core Team members and other fire service members.
The editors of four national fire service trade publications attended the Summit and offered their perspectives on the status of the fire service—its opportunities and challenges—and took questions from the attendees.
TIA proposes safer purging of gas piping
At its February meeting, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) National Fuel Gas Code Committee initiated a Tentative Interim Amendment (TIA) that would change the current edition of the code on an emergency basis. The revision would strengthen safety requirements for gas purging in NFPA 54, National Fuel Gas Code. The action follows the issuing of U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) urgent recommendations following a tragic explosion at the ConAgra Slim Jim plant in Garner, North Carolina, in June 2009. The CSB noted that this common industry practice has associated dangers and encouraged industrial, commercial, and public facilities to restrict indoor gas purging.
The TIA requires that the discharge of gas purging be directed outdoors and identifies specific requirements, including the following, which must be met during the purging process:
- The point of discharge shall be controlled with a shutoff valve.
- The discharge point shall be at least 10 feet from sources of ignition; a minimum of 10 feet from building openings, and a minimum of 25 feet from mechanical air-intake openings.
- During discharge, the open discharge point shall be continuously attended and monitored with a combustible gas indicator.
- Purging operations introducing fuel gas shall be stopped when 90 percent fuel gas by volume is detected within the pipe at the point of discharge.
- All persons not involved in the purging operations shall be evacuated to within 25 feet of the point of discharge.
The Technical Committee will vote by a letter ballot, and there will be an expedited public review and comment period on the TIA. The NFPA also welcomes public input on this proposed emergency revision. In addition to the TIA, the Technical Committee also took first steps to change the next edition of NFPA 54. The Committee’s actions on changes to the 2012 edition will be letter-balloted by all members of the Technical Committee and then be published and made publicly available in the Report on Proposals. At that point, all changes to NFPA 54 will be opened for public review and comment until September 3, 2010. The 2012 edition of NFPA 54 is scheduled to be issued in the summer of 2011. All relevant information pertaining to the development of the 2012 edition of NFPA 54 and the TIA are available at http://www.nfpa.org/54.
FDA charges Guidant in failure to report defibrillator problems
Guidant LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Boston Scientific Corporation, was charged in February with criminal violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act related to safety problems with some of its implantable defibrillators. The Justice Department filed the criminal information in connection with an agreement with Guidant to resolve the charges. A formal guilty plea agreement is expected to be filed with the court at a later date. Boston Scientific previously announced in a November 2009 press release that the company would pay $296 million on behalf of Guidant in connection with these charges.
The charges followed a four-year investigation into Guidant’s handling of short-circuiting failures of three models of implantable cardioverter defibrillators: the Ventak Prizm 2 DR (Model 1861) and the Contak Renewal (Models H135 and H155). Guidant issued safety advisories regarding the failures in June 2005.
APCO urges Congress to allocate public safety spectrum
The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International, along with the International Association of Chiefs of Police, International Association of Fire Chiefs, Major Cities Chiefs Association, Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association, National Emergency Management Association, and National Sheriffs’ Association, in February, expressed their disappointment with the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) announcement recommending reauction of the D Block spectrum. According to APCO, this action would give the spectrum to the commercial market instead of public safety. “Such a move would effectively preclude public safety’s ability to obtain 20 MHz of contiguous spectrum in the 700-MHz band,” APCO notes, and would prevent “continuing technological development to secure the nation and its citizens’ safety with enhanced capabilities for day-to-day operations and during critical events.”
If there is no congressional action, current law requires the FCC to auction this spectrum. Following the unsuccessful auction of this spectrum in 2009, APCO International and its partners urged Congress to pass legislation directing the FCC to remove any auction requirements for the D Block and to allocate it directly to public safety as part of the nationwide Public Safety Broadband License.
Public safety is working with Congress and the FCC to ensure allocation of the D Block spectrum. For more information on public safety’s position on the plans for the D Block spectrum, visit www.d-block.net.
NFPA releases 2010 edition of NFPA 1600®
In March, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) released the 2010 edition of NFPA 1600®, Standard on Disaster/Emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs, which is available for download at no charge on the NFPA’s Web site (www.nfpa.org).
NFPA 1600 establishes criteria for disaster and emergency management and business continuity programs and addresses management, planning, prevention, mitigation, implementation, response, recovery, testing, and improvement.
The standard, initiated in 1991, presented a plan designed to address preparations for, responses to, and recovery from disasters resulting from natural, human, or technological events.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) adopted NFPA 1600 as the national preparedness standard. Under the provisions of the Support Anti-Terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies Act of 2002 (SAFETY Act), DHS has designated NFPA 1600 as a “Qualified Anti-Terrorism Technology” and certified it as an “Approved Product for Homeland Security.” NFPA 1600 has also been designated for adoption under the DHS Voluntary Private Sector Preparedness Accreditation and Certification Program.
Dropping residential fire sprinkler requirement is mistake
The Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) has criticized a Florida House committee’s attempt to kill a proposed rule requiring fire sprinklers in many newly constructed homes, citing the inherent dangers for residents and firefighters.
The House bill would prohibit the Florida Building Commission (FBC) from adopting national code provisions contained in the 2009 International Residential Code (IRC) that requires installation of automatic sprinklers in townhomes and one- and two-family dwellings. The FBC is accepting proposed changes to the 2009 IRC for consideration later this year. The 2009 IRC serves as the base document for the 2010 edition of the Florida Residential Code.
For more information about residential sprinklers, see the Residential Fire Sprinklers report posted on the IBHS Web site at www.DisasterSafety.org/.
NIOSH releases Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation Reports
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recently released the following Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation Reports:
- F2009-26, Sept 11, 2009, “Firefighter/ operator suffers sudden cardiac death while operating a fire engine at a structure fire–Louisiana,” http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/reports/face200926.html/.
- F2009-12, Apr 15, 2009, “Volunteer fire chief dies in motor vehicle incident while responding to a fire alarm–Maryland,” http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/eports/face200912.html/.
- F2008-05, Feb 23, 2008, “Volunteer captain dies in engine rollover–Colorado,” http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/reports/face200805.html/.
- F2009-24, Jul 06, 2009, “Fire fighter trainee with an atrial septal aneurysm collapses and dies during debris fire operations–Pennsylvania,” http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/reports/face200924.html/.
- F2008-37, Nov 15, 2008, “Career fire fighter dies after being trapped in a roof collapse during overhaul of a vacant/abandoned building–Michigan,” http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/reports/face200837.html/.
