Poor Tactics May Bring Lawsuits, Speaker Warns ISFSI Conference
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Fire department accountability for fireground operations and evaluations of the first round of National Fire Academy courses were among the topics discussed at the annual fall conference of the International Society of Fire Service Instructors at Sioux Falls, S. Dak., Sept. 28 to October 1.
The day is coming when fire departments are going to be held accountable for their fireground operations, Robert J. Ruby, assistant vice president of Employers Mutual Companies of Des Moines, told the instructors.
Ruby said he expects one insurance company to sue over a fire department attack on a small church fire with a master stream device. He predicted that there will be an increasing trend to hold fire departments responsible for excessive damage resulting from improper fireground operations.
Ruby also warned that fire department fireground operations are going to have to improve or insurance is not going to be available to cover fire fighter injuries. He predicted that the departments are going to have to have physical condition standards if fire fighters are to get workmen’s compensation insurance and the old-time idea of going into smoke without breathing apparatus is going to be a thing of the past.
Heart attacks
“There just aren’t anymore smokeeating fires,” Ruby said in discussing smoke effect on fire fighters and he added that departments are going to have physical requirements to spot potential heart attack victims or they wouldn’t be able to get health insurance.
Ruby also stressed the need for training and pointed out that with a 25 percent yearly turnover rate among volunteers, there is a “massive need for basic training.” He also pointed out that effective fire fighting operations, particularly as they pertain to salvage, will affect insurance rates and he dedared, “If you don’t have standards, if you don’t meet certain certification levels, professional is not one of the titles they’re going to hang on you.”
The speaker pointed out that insurance company field engineers will work with fire departments to improve protection and in the case of volunteers, they are willing to tour insured plants at night. He said that the lab equipment of insurance companies can be made available to assist fire investigators.
While National Fire Academy courses received some praise from a panel of those who have taken the courses, there was vigorous dissent to the trend of altering the objective of academy courses from training the trainer, who would go out and teach others, to training individuals who would not teach others. This change in objectives drew from Louis J. Amabili, ISFSI president and director of the Delaware State Fire School, the remark, “I think we need the academy if it is run right and I don’t think it’s run right.”
Amabili voiced the opinion that the change from training the trainer was a bad move and the one thing the fire service does not need is a lot of Nat ional Fire Academy instructors spreading throughout the nation.
Earlier in the IFSFI conference the municipal instructors section voiced strong opposition to the academy’s cluster course program. Instead of presenting courses in each of the 10 federal districts, the academy in 1979 will present all its courses in two-week programs at four locations, San Francisco, New Haven, Atlanta and Minneapolis.
Management overview
In reviewing the management overview course, Amabili said that the instructor, Thomas Hawkins, did an excellent job but he taught the course as a direct contact course rather than one for training the trainers, as it was supposed to be. Amabili also criticized the overhead transparencies that were made directly from the instructor’s guide pages and therefore had print that was too small.
Praise for the pesticide course was voiced by Chief John Liebson of Crested Butte, Colo., who said that almost all units of the course dealt with actual incidents. In labeling the course “excellent,” he said he felt confident that he could teach the program if the Government Printing Office ever prints the course material.
Labor relations
Deputy Chief Harold Mararian of Westport, Conn., in discussing the labor-management relations course, conceded that “some found it beneficial,” but he felt that there were a number of shortcomings that included a training manual too extensive to study during the time allotted to the course, the regional concept for presentation which encompassed too many varying state practices, and also the instructor, who Mararian commented allowed long-winded discussions that were not pertinent.
Mararian also reported that there was no teamwork among the instructors and although they were rich in knowledge, they were not conversant with area-wide labor-management relations. He pointed out that some instructors said they were not prepared and others talked only of their own fire departments.
As for the manual, Mararian felt that it could be split into units and was poorly organized. He also suggested the course be split into segments to provide more time for the overall subject material. He added that too much time was spent on arbitration and voiced the opinion that once a labor dispute goes to arbitration, then it is too late to resolve the situation. He also complained that regional differences lead to long discussions by those from different regions and he urged teaching the course in a single area of unified customs and practices, such as may be expected in a single state.
Education methodology
In a discussion of the education methodology course, Lieutenant Warren Stevens of the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services disclosed that he had been in “the pilot program that bombed,” but that the revised course he also attended “was a very successful program.” Stevens commented that the revised course was presented as the train-the-trainer course it was intended to be and the instructor’s manual was well designed. He added that he “picked up a lot of techniques” during the course which he believes meets the instructor I requirements of NFPA 1041.
Fire Marshal William Ennis of McMurray, Pa., who took the arson detection course, said that a demonstration of fire-setting in abandoned buildings so that students could make an on-the-scene investigation would be an improvement in this course. He categorized the course as “well worth while,” but made that way by the instructor. He added that the arson detection class could be only as good as the instructor. Ennis added that the student manual was well put together but that the state and local level courses he attended were equal in quality to the National Fire Academy course.
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State directors object
The ISFSI state director’s workshop took a stand that the cluster concept of presenting National Fire Academy programs is in direct competition with state training programs. The directors felt that the dropping of the train-thetrainer approach puts the NFA courses on a competitive level with state training. The directors voiced resentment at the lack of input they had during the cluster course preparatory meetings throughout the country. They felt that the academy representatives were at the meeting merely to explain what the academy was going to do rather than to seek advice in making plans for presenting academy courses during the next calendar year.
Visual inspection by operators of aerial equipment can do much to ensure the safe operation of that equipment, Boyd Cole of the National Testing Corp., told the instructors. He stressed that the use of ultrasonic and magnetic particle testing equipment his company uses in sophisticated inspections of aerial apparatus is not needed to spot visible weld cracks and aerial ladders that have a twist. These things, he declared, should be noticed by the operators of this equipment.
Cole also explained that aerial devices, whether they are ladders or elevating platforms, depend for their safety on the integrity of the truck chassis and that the chassis and turntable assemblies also should be visually inspected by the operators of this equipment.
Tank explosions
Of the three reasons why pressurized tanks involved in fire explode, flame impingement “is the one that, is killing us,” said Gene Allen, a Houston fire protection engineer. The other causes, he said, were overpressure and physical damage to the tank.
“Do you have an impingement? You have to assume you do when you get the call,” Allen advised.
He explained that for an explosion, an impinging flame must heat the vapor area of the tank shell, and he added that when the impinging flame hits the liquid area of the tank, the liquid will heat and boil off through the relief valve. He commented that pipe failure in plant installations is mostly caused by flame impingement on the vapor area of the pipe.
Allen stated that 90 percent of all tank explosions have been within 15 to 30 minutes from the time the flame impingement started. He recommended that at least 500 to 750 gpm of water be applied to cool the impingement area. Allen referred to the time necessary to get an adequate water supply for application on endangered tanks and asked, “Can you generate the water supply needed?”
He noted that the Department of Transportation is experimenting with insulated LPG tank cars which are expected to provide 30 to 60 minutes more time before failure. He also deplored the fact that some fire fighters were not wearing turnout gear during some tank explosion incidents.
Certification program
Pilot testing of the national fire fighters certification program will be done in Iowa, Oklahoma, Maine and Oregon, said John Hoglund, director of the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute, provided they make certain changes needed for compliance with certification criteria established by the Professional Qualifications Board. Hoglund, a member of the Professional Qualifications Board, said he hoped the pilot testing in these states would begin on January 1.
He added that there would be no fee involved. However, a fee will be charged when the program is extended, but Hoglund said that the fee has not yet been determined. Some time ago the pro-board and its parent organization, the Joint Council of National Fire Service Organizations had reaped criticism over a proposal to charge states a $1000 fee for authorization to establish a fire fighter certification program.
The pro-board has divided the twoyear testing program into one-year phases. In the first year, an effort will be made to determine the validity, practicality and cost of certification. Also, there will be a determination of the state cost for a certification program.
Hoglund explained that the certificate of equivalency which will be avail able for experienced fire fighters would not be the same as the fire fighter certification certificate.
Nuclear reactor protection
Some of the problems in fire protection at nuclear reactor plants were discussed by Scott Keyer, chief of the fire brigade at the Beaver Valley Power Station in Shippingport, Pa.
“You don’t ventilate a nuclear reactor site,” Keyer said, because the walls are too sturdy. Furthermore, you can’t release the smoke to the outside, he added.
Keyer told about the electrical cable insulation fire that caused a $20 million loss and two and a half years in down time at the Brown’s Ferry nuclear plant fire in Limestone, Ala. As a result, action was taken to seal cables with a fire-resistant material where they pass through walls at the Beaver Valley plant. In addition to electrical cables with combustible insulation, oil, grease, acetylene and hydrogen are among the other fire problems at a nuclear plant site, Keyer remarked.
He said that everything in the way of safety has a backup system and every employee has to have a certain amount of fire training. The fire brigade members, of course, receive additional training. At Shippingport, the plant is protected by two2500-gpm fire pumps, one powered by an electric motor and the other by a diesel engine.
Use of available facilities
As one of several minitalk speakers, Jack McElfish, training coordinator for Montgomery County, Pa., which has 92 fire departments, gave some tips for training with available facilities. The training in Montgomery County is done at old state buildings. McElfish said that for training in the use of pressurized water extinguishers, tires are placed in a steel frame and the tires are then ignited by natural gas, which is turned off when the students use the extinguishers. He said that 20 or 90 training fires can be conducted with the use of four or five tires at one time. He added that actual use of axes can be done by having the men chop wooden pallets, which not only are placed on the floors of the training buildings but also on the roofs.
The speaker said that an airfield that the Air National Guard does not use one day a month becomes a driver training area for fire apparatus operators and that a junkyard is the scene for extrication classes. He pointed out that this site eliminates the need for towing cars to and from class sites. McElfish also explained that in a building where fire can only be simulated, a flare placed in a can gives a realistic glow to a room when seen from outside.
Protective clothing
Discussing turnout gear and its protective qualities, Carrol L. Herring, Louisiana director of fire training, pointed out that at least one turnout coat warranty declared that the use of cleaning materials such as detergents, petroleum products and solvents would void the warranty, but these are materials that are encountered while fighting fires.
He noted that boots still break down at the fold and a type of glove is needed that will give full protection to the fire fighter. He added materials and technology are available “but we were not getting them together.” He commented that if we did, we might succeed in better protection of fire fighters.
Fireground noise hazards
The noises on the fireground can be a hearing hazard and Project FIRES gave consideration to this problem, Charles Barkell, an instructor at Lakeland Community College, Mentor, Ohio, told the instructors. He suggested that earmuffs be placed on apparatus and that earplugs be kept in turnout coat pockets. He said that pump operators working for extended periods of time “are definitely exposed” to dangerous noise limits. He added that radio hearing can be wired into earmuffs.
Barkell commented that “the air chisel is probably one of the loudest tools used in the fire service today.”
When noisy extrication tools are used, Barkell recommended that conventional hearing protection or even a blanket be used to protect the hearing of trapped victims. He pointed out that noise creates stress and has the same psychological effect as stress generated by any other cause. He also recommended that fire departments introduce an annual or bi-annual hearing screening program.
Murph Anthony, former South Dakota fire marshal, saw politicians as a major problem for the fire service and commented. “We fight fires, the second most destructive force in the world, but politics is the most destructive.”
He added the politicians “give you the solution before they understand the problem and you’re stuck with it.” Anthony also warned the instructors that if they aren’t learning more, then they are slipping backward and becoming poorer. He urged them to see things realistically.
