IAFC and DOT create Hazmat Fusion Center
The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) has signed a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to develop the Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Fusion Center (Hazmat Fusion Center). The center will collect and analyze data pertaining to hazardous-materials incidents that first responders will use to enhance their tactics, operations, policies, and training. The center will also provide information to other decision makers relative to the transport and delivery of hazmats.
Under the agreement, the IAFC will provide program management, technical advisors, and subject matter expertise and will establish the initial data-collection efforts.
The agreement is for one year; there are options to renew for four additional one-year terms. During the first year, the program will establish the data center’s technical and human elements.
Clow Valve Company urges fire departments to check their hydrants
In a follow-up Safety Notice issued at the end of October, the Clow Valve Company reminded its clients that the lubricant and upper stem assemblies in approximately 113,000 of its fire hydrants sold nationwide must be replaced. The hydrants involved are the company’s Medallion and F2500 brands, manufactured in 2002, 2003, and 2004.
In August 2006, the company issued a Safety Notice and sent a letter to water and fire departments in communities throughout the United States advising that it would replace the lubricant and upper stem assemblies in the affected fire hydrants. Since that time, Clow has located more than 45,000 hydrants in more than 600 communities, and contractors have replaced more than 30,000 upper stems.
A lubricant used in Clow hydrants manufactured between 2002 and 2004 can corrode internal hydrant parts, according to Mike Vore, Clow’s national sales manager. The lubricant contains a calcium acetate additive that causes corrosion; it is no longer used by Clow. The company advises that clients not use any grease that contains a calcium acetate additive. The grease, the company explains, cannot affect water quality because the grease in the hydrants is an approved food-grade lubricant and the hydrants’ grease reservoirs are isolated from the water system. Clow adds that if the lubricant and upper stem are not replaced, it is possible that some hydrants will become inoperable because the stem will become corroded.
Clow has not heard from some clients who purchased the affected hydrants; others responded to the Safety Notice but still have not had the hydrants repaired. Clow will provide, at no cost, a contractor (and a replacement kit with all the needed materials and information) to inspect and repair the hydrants. The company is committed to replacing all the affected upper stems and lubricant by the end of 2008. Communities are asked to visit www.clowvalve.com or call Clow’s sales department at 800-829-2569 for more information.
House passes tax relief measure for volunteer firefighters, EMS personnel
In November, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax (HEART) act (H.R. 3997). It excludes from taxable income all property tax benefits and up to $360 a year of any other benefit paid to volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel by state and local government units. The measure has been sent to the Senate. The National Volunteer Fire Council is asking fire service members to contact their senators and ask support for its passage.
Elevators to play role in high-rise fire evacuation: NIST
Earlier this year, in the report of its three-year investigation of the World Trade Center (WTC) collapses, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recommended code changes that would increase elevator use in high-rise emergencies. In April 2008, NIST will sponsor a “Thinking Egress” conference in Gaithersburg, Maryland, to consider the benefits of elevator evacuations, especially for occupants with disabilities.
In a recent lecture in London, NIST’s Richard Bukowski, a fire prevention engineer, noted that it takes about one minute per floor to descend undamaged and smoke-free stairs. For people on the 60th floor and above, he explained, it would take an hour or more to escape the building, which, he said, can be exhausting even for individuals in the best physical condition.
Elevator evacuation, Bukowski noted, would enable people with disabilities to self-evacuate with the other building occupants. In emergencies, he said, elevators could be programmed to move those with the longest distance first. Occupants on lower floors (without disabilities) could choose to use the stairs. During a total evacuation, elevators would collect occupants from the highest floors first, bring them to the exit level, and return for another group of people; the elevators would work their way down from the top. Pressing a call button, Bukowski explained, would register that people are awaiting pickup, but it (and the buttons in the car) would not alter the sequence of the elevator car. He suggests that one elevator should be assigned exclusively to firefighters to provide rapid access to fires on upper floors.
U.S. building codes are now considering proposals to require such elevators in tall buildings, and regulators in several countries are interested in requiring evacuation elevators as part of their disability regulations. For additional information, contact John Blair at john.blair@nist.gov or (301) 975-4261.
Welch Allyn AED 10 automatic external defibrillators recalled
On October 26, 2007, the U.S. Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advised that Welch Allyn Protocol, Inc., (Beaverton, Oregon) was recalling its AED 10 Automatic External Defibrillators manufactured between March 29, 2007, and August 9, 2007, part numbers 970302E, 970308E, 970310E, and 970311E.
There is a possibility that the devices may fail or be unacceptably delayed in analyzing a patient’s ECG, resulting in a possible failure to deliver the appropriate therapy. Customers may call Welch Allyn’s technical support at (1-800) 462-0777.
According to the FDA, Welch Allyn issued a press release on October 30, set up a call center for customers, and plans to send three certified mailings to affected customers. The company will issue a replacement that will include a new five-year warranty. The company’s press release is at http://www.welchallyn.com/pressroom/releases/2007/2007-10-30%20-%20AED%2010%20Recall.htm/.
In August, Welch Allyn had recalled its AED 20 Automatic External Defibrillators manufactured between October 2003 and January 2005, serial numbers 205787 through 207509.
These units may display a “Defib Comm” error message on the device display during use, which may result in a terminal failure of the device to analyze the patient’s ECG and deliver the appropriate therapy. Welch Allyn sent recall letters on August 29 to customers who purchased these devices.
Former NIST Fire Science Division chief and scholars challenge NIOSH WTC report
James Quintiere, Ph.D., former chief of the Fire Science Division of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), has asked for an independent review of NIST’s investigation (NCSTAR 1 report) into the collapses of the World Trade Center towers on 9/11.
In his presentation on the NIST investigation at the 2007 World Fire Safety Conference, Quintiere noted: “I wish that there would be a peer review of this. I think all the records that NIST has assembled should be archived. I would really like to see someone else take a look at what they’ve done, both structurally and from a fire point of view.”
Quintiere added: “I think the official conclusion that NIST arrived at is questionable. Let’s look at real alternatives that might have been the cause of the collapse of the World Trade towers and how that relates to the official cause and what’s the significance of one cause versus another.”
Among the issues Quintiere labeled “problematic,” are the following:
- There is no timeline in the NIST report. He said he originally thought NIST would do a good job with the investigation. He thought NIST would enlist the assistance of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and that people would be sent “out on the street” to get information. Quintiere faults “the legal structure that cloaks the Commerce Department and therefore NIST” for preventing this from happening.
- NIST’s failure to provide a report on World Trade Center Building 7. The building burned for a long time. He noted that even though firefighters were in the building, he had not seen any stories about what they saw or what was burning and doesn’t know if photographs were taken.
- NIST’s “repeated failures” to formally respond to serious questions raised about its conclusions regarding the WTC building collapses and the process used to arrive at those conclusions. Quintiere made it clear, however, that he is not a supporter of the theory that the towers were brought down by preplanted explosives. He alluded to the assertion by the proponents of the explosives theory that smoke puffing out all around the building was caused by setting off an explosive charge. Quintiere said it was more likely that the cause was one of the floors falling down.
The research done by Quintiere and his students contradicts the NIST report conclusion that there would have been no collapse if the fire insulation had remained in place. Quintiere suggests that an equally justifiable theory is that the trusses fail as they are heated by the fire, even with the insulation intact.
Quintiere had told the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science in October 2005 that, in his opinion, “The WTC investigation by NIST fell short of expectations by not definitely finding cause, by not sufficiently linking recommendations of specificity to cause, by not fully involving all of their authority to seek facts in the investigation, and by the guidance of government lawyers to deter rather than develop fact finding.”
Quintiere is a founding member and past chair of the International Association for Fire Safety Science and a fellow of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
Other Dissenters
On another front, Dr. Judy Wood, a former member of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Clemson University and a member of Scholars for 9/11 Truth, formally challenged the NCSTAR 1 report. Wood filed a Request for Correction (RFC) in March 2007 relative to the Data Quality Act under the guidance of Connecticut Attorney Jerry Leaphart. Wood maintains that directed energy weapons (DEW) destroyed the towers. She claimed that NCSTAR 1 was “fraudulent and deceptive,” since NIST could not explain the profound destruction of the WTC, including the massive pulverization of the towers.
In its acknowledgement of Wood’s assertion concerning the directed energy weapons, NIST said it did not analyze that part of the event where the destructive effects referenced by Wood would have been taking place.
Wood had charged that some of NIST’s contractors would have been able to confirm the use of DEW because they manufacture and develop such weapons. Among the contractors NIST used to help it prepare NCSTAR 1 was Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA), which is also a founding sponsor of the Directed Energy Professional Society (DEPS). NIST posted a copy of Wood’s appeal on its Web site.
In July, Catherine Fletcher of NIST said NIST “has found that the evidence submitted by Dr. Wood does not support a theory involving directed energy weapons.” NIST also indicated that it had done a background check on its contractors to ensure there were no conflicts of interest and that it did not know that ARA manufactured DEW. Wood asserts that NIST should have known of ARA’s involvement with DEW and appealed NIST’s decision in August 2007. The appeal is at http://drjudywood.com/pdf/070822_RFC_Appeal17a_JW.pdf and http://drjudywood.com/articles/NIST/NIST_RFC.html#wood.
Dr. Morgan Reynolds, professor (Emeritus) of economics at Texas A & M University and former chief economist in the Department of Labor, initiated two actions against NIST. In an RFC, he states that NCSTAR 1 did not properly explain the observed damage caused by the “supposed plane impacts.” He asserted that the phenomena cited in the report “are not independently verifiable.”
Reynolds also initiated a lawsuit against NIST and other parties, a “Qui Tam” complaint, in July, charging that the “defendants knowingly concealed, or failed to disclose, or caused others to fail to disclose material information.”
A list of other engineers and architects who have questioned the official NIST investigation of the events of 9/11 is at http://PatriotsQuestion911.com/. www.prleap.com/printer/92756, September 10, 2007; Alan Miller, www.opednews.com/maxwrite/print_friendly.php?p=genera_alan_mil_070820_former_chief_of_ni… , August 22, 2007
Line-of-Duty Deaths
October 25. Firefighter Bob Phillips, 64, Athelstane (WI) Volunteer Fire Department: apparent heart attack.
October 27. Assistant Chief Ralph Cross, 73, Charlevoix (MI) Township Fire Department: apparent heart attack.
October 29. Lieutenant Scott Mumm, 34, Mendota (IL) Fire Department: cause of death unknown.
November 5. Firefighter Jeremy Wach, 31, Wymore (NE) Fire and Rescue Department: asphyxiation as the result of a roof collapse at a house fire.
Source: USFA Firefighters Memorial Database
News Glimpses
New York City to increase fire inspections. Fire department companies will increase inspection time for occupied buildings or construction sites from six hours to nine hours a week, according to Fire Department of New York Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta. In addition, borough commanders, not only division heads, will review the inspection reports. According to Fire Engineering Technical Editor and John Jay College Professor Glenn Corbett, the additional hours will not make a great difference; the department needs more staff to inspect buildings. Officials have noted that firefighters get called away from inspections to respond to emergencies. “NYC fire inspections to increase after WTC skyscraper blaze,” Amy Westfeldt, AP, http://ny.metro.usmetro/local/ap/NY_Deutsche_Band_Fire.html, November 7, 2007
● Study shows NY state employees suffering WTC-related respiratory problems. A New York State Department of Health study released in November revealed that New York state employees who worked at the World Trade Center site after the toxic dust cloud dissipated are experiencing the same respiratory difficulties as workers who worked there during the 9/11 attacks but to a lesser degree. The study involved more than 1,400 state police, National Guard members, and state Department of Transportation workers. One-third arrived during the first two days after the attacks and 57 percent before September 16, 2001. A little more than 57 percent of the workers subjected to the dust cloud reported lower respiratory problems, compared with almost 47 of the workers who did not experience the dust cloud. The report was published in the November issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. www.ny1.com/ny1/NY1ToGo/Story/index.jsp?stid=203&aid=75491, November 12, 2007
● NVFC obtains grant for Heart-Healthy program. The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) has received a grant of nearly $1 million from the Department of Homeland Security. The grant will be used to implement Phase Five of the Heart-Healthy Firefighter program. This phase encompasses two components: a state and local train-the-trainer program (personnel will be taught how to create and maintain an effective health and wellness program within their fire department) and the Adopt-the-Program feature, which enables firefighters and departments to register with the Heart-Healthy Firefighter program to receive tools and information for maintaining a heart-healthy lifestyle.
● Abbott glucose meters may malfunction when dropped. Abbott has issued a global alert warning that certain diabetic blood glucose meters may not function properly if dropped on a hard surface, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The alert applies to Precision Xtra, Optium, ReliOn Ultima, Rite Aid, and Kroger brands manufactured after January 31, 2007. Additional information and free replacement meters may be obtained by contacting the company at (877) 844-4404. http://www.medscape.com, September 19, 2007
● Pigeon “poop” could collapse bridges, experts say. According to some experts, pigeon dung may have contributed to the collapse of the I-35W interstate bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in August. According to an AP report, inspectors documented the buildup of pigeon dung on the span near downtown Minneapolis as long as 20 years ago, and the corrosive guano accelerates the rusting of steel beams. Martiga Lohn, AP, http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/science/507554.html
● FDA approves vaccine for smallpox. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Acambis’ ACAM2000 [Smallpox (Vaccinia) Vaccine, Live] vaccine for protection against smallpox, according to a Businesswire release. The vaccine is for persons determined to be at high risk for smallpox infection. The single-dose vaccine is the primary smallpox vaccine for emergency use and constitutes the majority of the U.S. government’s smallpox vaccine stockpile. The FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee voted unanimously in May in favor of the vaccine’s safety and efficacy. The vaccine will also be used for military personnel. http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=2007, September 4, 2007.
