By Jack Murphy
The International Code Council (ICC) for the 2016 Group-B Committee Action will be holding hearings in Louisville, Kentucky, from April 17to April 27, 2016. To assist the fire service members with a wide range of code proposals for this year’s cycle, we are launching the “Firefighters’ Code Voice” (FCV) series for the broader national fire service network.
The FCV will be posting Group-B code proposals that will be impacting our day-to-day operations on the fireground. Since the fireground is a high-risk work environment, your department’s voice for consideration in the ICC code voting process must be heard. Getting engaged in the building and fire codes makes for a safer situation not only for firefighters, but the public at large.
To find more details on the Group-B code proposals go to:
- Code hearing schedule details available at:
- Code Group B – Proposed Changes to the 2015 Editions:
FCV – GROUP-B: CODE PROPOSALS FOR CONSIDERATION, Part No.4:
With new Energy Storage Systems (ESS) rapidly moving forward in many response districts, local utility companies are looking to shed electric power during peaks hours. An ESS system will be operational during those hours. Many ESS installations will be installed not only in new construction, but into existing buildings. Some types of battery systems, while having been open road tested for a vehicle, will challenge fire departments within an enclosed environment for evacuations and extinguishment.
With new technologies such as ESS, solar PV panel enhancements, and new construction methods, although the fire service works in partnership with industry, it still does preclude the fact that firefighters need building intelligence now more than ever before.
Therefore FCV ask to support for F32-16 Building Information Card as a “Know Before You Go” Campaign (PDF, 175 KB) getting pre-incident plans into the hands of firefighters for first-due initial operations and further support the Incident Command System (ICS) with decision-based building knowledge rather than the unknown guess-based information.
Be safe out there.
Part 1: Firefighters’ Code Voice
Part 2: Firefighters’ Code Voice
Part 3: Firefighters’ Code Voice
Jack J. Murphy, MA, is a fire marshal (ret.)/fmr. deputy chief and has served as a deputy fire coordinator for the N.J. Div. of Fire Safety (Bergen Region). He is the Chairman of the New York City High-Rise Fire Safety Directors Assoc., a member of the NFPA High-Rise Building Safety Advisory and 1620-Pre-Incident Planning Committees. He has published various fire service articles and authored: RICS; Rapid Incident Command System Field Handbooks; the “Pre-Incident Planning” Chapter-29 of the Fire Engineering’s Handbook for Firefighter I & II; and co-authored, “Bridging the Gap: Fire Safety and Green Buildings.” Jack is a PennWell Fire Group Executive Board member, a Fire Engineering contributing editor, co-hosts Taming the Fire Environment on the Fire Engineering website and he has received the 2012 Fire Engineering Tom Brennan Lifetime Achievement Award.
