An International View of Fire Prevention
FEATURES
FIRE PROTECTION
STAFF REPORT
Turnout gear, as we all know, is the firefighter’s primary means of protection against heat and flame. Coats and pants, fashioned from highly sophisticated, spaceage fabrics; helmets, manufactured from leather, metal, or plastic; and boots, made of various waterproof materials, all offer an extra margin of safety in hazardous environments.
To enter a fire building or hazardous material atmosphere with nothing but a lightweight cotton turnout coat and pants, cork helmet, rubber boots, and leather gloves is unthinkable. Or is it?
The Hong Kong fire service (whose turnout gear was just described), takes a radically different view of protective clothing than do their American counterparts. “Getting soaked” is how Hong Kong’s turnout gear obtains some fire resistance, and its light weight is less stressful, giving firefighters greater mobility and work efficiency.
Although donning what may well be the least protective firefighter clothing in the world, Hong Kong firefighters nevertheless have an extremely low casualty rate as compared to the United States.
Philip S. Schaenman, former associate administrator of the U.S. Fire Administration and president of TriData, an Arlington, VA, based corporation that specializes in the development and use of management information for government and industry, traveled to Hong Kong and Japan to research some of the policies and practices of the Far Eastern fire services to find effective programs that might better the United States’ poor fire protection record. The Australian and New Zealand fire services were also studied, research in these countries conducted by Edward F. Seits, consultant to TriData and a senior official of the California State Fire Marshal’s Office.
Based on statistics, all four overseas nations have fire death rates 50% to 65% lower than that in the United States. Japan averages 1,800 fire deaths and 8,500 injuries per year; Hong Kong averages 40 fire deaths per year. In the United States there are an average of 6,800 fire deaths per year. Firefighter injuries and casualties, too, are considerably lower overseas. Japan, which has approximately the same number of firefighters as does the United States, averages 16 firefighter deaths and 1,933 injuries per year. The United States averages well over 100 firefighter deaths per year, and New York City, with less than one-tenth the number of paid firefighters as Japan, has far more firefighter injuries than does all of Japan.
SAFETY AND TRAINING
One of the reasons for these discrepancies in death and injury rates may be the emphasis on firefighter safety.
“Modern Japanese and Hong Kong firefighters are taught to follow all rules strictly, including safety rules,” says Schaenman and Seits in their report, “International Concepts in Fire Protection.” “Disciplinary action is taken for rule violations such as not wearing all items of protective clothing…. In Sydney, Australia, firefighters are taught standard safe working practices. All personnel learn ‘to do it one way and one way only…’ so when they work together, they know what everyone else is going to do.”
In Hong Kong and Japan, being physically fit is a major fire department requirement. In fact, Hong Kong firefighters are barred from promotion if they do not pass a physical fitness exam. “One of the reasons for their great attention to physical conditioning,” says Schaenman, “is that statistics, especially from the United States, show that the majority of firefighter deaths are caused by (coronary problems) and that a large percentage of injuries are caused by strains, sprains, and other problems that can be prevented to some extent by physical conditioning.”
Another asset in the area of safety is that all firefighters in Hong Kong, Japan, and New Zealand ride inside the cabs of the fire apparatus, and the Japanese use remote control snorkels with television cameras to survey conditions at upper levels of some fires.
Job related mental stress is another concern of overseas departmerits. Starting with recruit classes, firefighters learn to expect and to deal with psychological stress in the emergencies they face.
Photo courtesy of TriData Corporation
The Japanese firefighter is encouraged to pursue peaceful and contemplative as well as physical activities to work off tensions.
In Sydney, it is believed that a strict observance of safety practices and a mutual confidence in brother firefighters (all officers in Sydney come up through the ranks) account for reduced stress.
Another reason for the high rate of American firefighter deaths and injuries is that the United States fire service provides less training to its firefighters, especially officers, than do most other nations, according to the TriData report.
In Hong Kong and Tokyo, Japan, the curriculum for recruit training takes six months, and includes such courses as geography and fire investigation. For officer candidates in Hong Kong, there is an additional six months of full-time training. If they successfully complete the course, the new officers then undergo a three-year probationary period as station officers.
In Tokyo, there are required training curricula for every level of officer after promotion which, like Sydney, is up from the ranks. Lieutenants receive eight weeks of training, captains and battalion chiefs receive four weeks. Courses cover education and self-enlightenment, human relations in work places, persuasive speech, psychology, and much more.
FIRE PREVENTION
Probably the greatest reason for lower firefighter death and injury rates overseas is that these firefighters go to fewer fires and have less exposure to injuries. But why in Japan, for example, where houses are constructed of paper and wood and open fires are used for heating, cooking, and worship, do they have fewer fire incidents nationwide per year than New York City alone? A single engine company in Cincinnati, Ohio, a city of 385,500 people, responded to 595 fires in one year. The entire Nagasaki, Japan, Fire Department, which protects a city of 450,000 people, responded to a total of 150 fires in the same time period.
“Oriental people generally have a high awareness of the importance of fire safety,” states Schaenman. “Nowhere is it more evident than in Japan, where causing a fire carries with it an extreme social stigma …. Your carelessness may be publicized, you are expected to apologize formally to your neighbors individually, and you may be ostracized. . . . These pressures are almost exactly the opposite of what happens in U.S. communities, which tend to pull together in a crisis to help even strangers, and surround people who have fires with outpourings of clothing, food, temporary shelter, money, and moral support….
INTERNATIONAL FIRE DEATH RATES
(Excluding Transportation)
Artwork courtesy of the TriData Corporation
“In Hong Kong, too, there is great social pressure not to start fires, even among the poorest families. The desire of most people in Hong Kong is to build up a financial stake through hard work and entrepreneurship. . .. There is no welfare. You work or you starve. People are careful with whatever little they accumulate. If you start a fire accidentally, you are endangering the accumulated property of others as well as your own, so you are castigated. If you start a fire intentionally, you may be physically attacked.”
The overseas fire services, too, are well aware of the value of fire prevention, and focus on particular themes that will strike a chord with their particular audience. The theme may be endangering others, pride of ownership, losing parts of your heritage, economic loss, or fear for your life.
To get the message of fire safety and prevention out to the civilian population, the fire departments devote large amounts of resources and efforts. In Japan, at least 10% to 15% of the fire department personnel are assigned full time to fire prevention, and many others have prevention related duties as part of their routine work week. Overall, other countries provide much more instruction in fire prevention to both firefighters and officers than the United States does. In several nations, officers must take special training as well as a tour of duty in fire prevention in order to advance in rank, Schaenman notes.
As a nation, the United States lags far behind others in the scope, intensity, and effectiveness of its fire prevention efforts. But the solution is not so simple that one can just prescribe throwing resources at fire prevention. Seits notes that “a senior Australian fire chief asked why if is that even though the United States puts ‘so much emphasis on public education and school programs’ (compared to Australia), the United States has a fire death rate more than twice as high as Australia. He felt there was a point of diminishing returns, and that the quality of programs and the specific techniques used was crucial.”
Schaenman and Seits state that “to be fair to ourselves, we have a more diverse people within one nation and greater freedom to live as we wish than do most other nations, which makes the fire protection job more difficult. But there is always a theme around which public fire safety attitudes can be shaped. . . . We are a land of many peoples, more than any other nation, and may need to use different themes for different cities, neighborhoods, or ethnic groups.”
Public fire education
A prime example of tailoring a method to make your fire prevention message known to a particular group of people is what happened in Auckland, New Zealand. Their large Polynesian population was thought to have a higher than average fire problem because of their unfamiliarity with modern appliances. Also, the people, many illegal immigrants from the South Pacific, are afraid of uniformed officials and rarely call the fire brigade. Conventional fire prevention methods, even using materials in the Polynesian language, didn’t work. By analyzing cultural background, explains Schaenman, “the fire service found that much of the Polynesian society was centered around religion. The fire service went to the religious leaders and enlisted their assistance in getting fire safety information to the people through church-related meetings and by legitimizing the need to practice fire safety. They felt that this has worked to lower the fire and fire death rates.”
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Fire departments in Hong Kong and Japan distribute magnificent color posters, brochures, and comic book fire prevention handouts.
Most school curriculums in Japan, New Zealand and South Australia include fire prevention education. In Japan, as in Europe, parents play a major role in instructing their children in the importance of fire safety.
Photo courtesy of TrIData Corporation
Unlike the United States, where fire officers often tell the media that the cause of a fire is “under investigation,” the four countries studied make it easy for the press to report on a fire and collect background information, believing that this helps raise public awareness. In Australia, brush and woodland fires are well covered by the media because of the public’s concern about their spread to inhabited areas and the desire to preserve their limited timber resources.
In Japan, there is another, more subtle purpose in news coverage, Schaenman points out. “The publicity adds to the embarrassment and loss of face suffered by the careless household, which helps make others more careful to avoid experiencing the same embarrassment.” There are even fleets of “public information” vehicles equipped with loudspeakers that go to every working fire. A public information or education officer announces the cause of the fire and ways to prevent it, taking advantage of the interest and concern of the public at the scene. It is also one of the best times to make an impact.
Japanese and Hong Kong citizens are encouraged to extinguish incipient fires before they grow. To be effective and prevent injuries, fire departments provide practical training to the citizens in the use of fire extinguishers, water buckets, standpipe hose, and other extinguishing measures. In Australia, too, citizens are encouraged to obtain fire extinguishers and learn how to use them.
There are also Japanese clubs and community meetings whose sole purpose is to teach its members fire awareness and fire prevention. Local community activities help spread fire prevention ideas. The large number of clubs and participants is attributed to the fact that the civilians cannot depend on the fire department to arrive quickly because of the many hills and narrow streets. “It’s our business to protect our property,” one club member was reported as saying.
“The Japanese also have pioneered and put into use a number of methods to help citizens help themselves escape from fire in public buildings and homes,” says Schaenman. Some of the more noteworthy ideas include:
- Flashlights attached to brackets in such a way that simply removing the flashlight will turn it on;
- Low exit signs placed about 18 inches above the floor or built into the floor of escape paths rather than in the conventional place above the level of the doorway where smoke builds up early;
- A fire resistant, clear plastic bag/hood about the size of a pillowcase has been developed to provide an inexpensive emergency three-minute air supply to aid escape;
- Illustrated escape booklets are placed in hotels.
Legal repercussions and private fire protection managers
In Japan and Hong Kong, people who start fires by carelessness or negligence may be fined or imprisoned, especially if they cause death or injuries.
“The owner of a commercial building or his agents,” explains Schaenman, “are liable for imprisonment up to three months or a fine of about $300, according to Japanese national law, if they fail to appoint a fire protection manager for the building, or if they put someone in charge who has not been properly certified. If the owner disregards an order by a fire inspector to correct a hazard, or if he stores too much hazardous material on his property, (he may receive a oneyear sentence) or a fine of about $1,000. For interfering with the movement of a fire vehicle or obstructing a member of the fire department engaged in suppression, the penalty is two years imprisonment or a fine of about $1,700. For damaging (an alarm or a hydrant that services a building, the penalty) is five years imprisonment.”
In Japan, every public assembly, office building, high rise, and multi-family residence above a certain size or occupancy level must have a fire protection manager.
Tokyo has 79,000 building fire protection managers, each trained by the local fire service with the authority to act as private fire marshals in their buildings. The fire protection manager, explains Schaenman, “is responsible for overseeing the absence of hazards and the maintenance of escape passages, knowing how to report fires and how to use firefighting equipment on incipient fires, and for conducting fire drills regularly.
“For buildings that have active fire protection systems, such as sprinklers or smoke control systems, a person must be designated as a ‘fire protection equipment engineer.'”
Fire and building codes
The fire and building codes in Japan, Hong Kong, New Zealand, and some areas of Australia give fire authorities considerable discretion as to the fire protection features that are required.
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Japan’s National Fire Service Law requires that wherever a building permit or certification is required by a government agency, it can’t be issued without the consent of the fire chief.
In modern buildings that have thick, unopenable windows, Tokyo’s Building Standard Law allows the fire department to place small red triangles or red lights on those windows that are openable or that are thin enough to be easily broken. In this way, ladder companies can identify the best entry points.
The overseas fire services often have more training in code enforcement, more resources, and greater support for strict enforcement than we do. Says Schaenman, “The courts in Japan and Hong Kong seem to be highly sympathetic to the fire departments. Department personnel feel they rarely will lose a case.
”The greatest emphasis in the code enforcement process in the Far East, as in Europe, is in the plans review stage. It goes with the emphasis on prevention. If the building is situated and designed well, much of the safety will be built in.”
The plans review section is one of the specialized groups in the Hong Kong fire brigade. Fourteen of the brightest, best motivated, and most mature officers with successful field experience are chosen for these positions. The reviewing officer literally signs off on each page of the building plan personally. If anything goes wrong because of building design or fire protection features, the reviewing officer is held accountable.
The heart of the plans review process in Hong Kong, explains Schaenman, is communications among engineers, architects, and the reviewing officer. The officers are under intellectual pressure because they have to justify their decisions technically.
Construction
While the types of construction found in these other countries don’t necessarily aid in fire prevention (such as the wood and paper buildings throughout most of Japan), they do reduce the incidence of catastrophic losses of groups of firefighters. Whether constructed of wood and paper or concrete and steel, Japanese buildings do not tend to have a full or partial collapse as do the brick veneers and wooden joist construction in the United States.
“In Australia,” says Seits, “a fire chief pointed out the significance to firefighter safety of their insistence on nonflammable roofs and solid walls, which provides compartmentation in private dwellings.”
Photo coistesy of TriData Corporation
Several high-rise buildings in Hong Kong have refuge floors, which provide shelter to people trapped high up in a building. The refuge floor must be devoid of building equipment and well ventilated to the outside by being open above the parapet level. “The floor must be capable of being sealed off from other floors in the building and cannot have its vertical fire barrier integrity broken other than by a fire service elevator,” explains Schaenman. “The ventilated openings should be protected by an external sprinkler system….
“To further enhance the security of high rises, Hong Kong is considering the concept of ‘refuge staircases’ that would serve as vertical escape tunnels. They would be protected stairwells that would connect refuge floors to each other and then to the street level. They would not be accessible from other floors.
“Hong Kong requires that high rises over eight stories have at least one elevator that has a highly fire resistant shaft and automatic selfclosing fire resistant doors for use by the fire department. This fire service elevator can be used as a cargo elevator on a regular basis.”
At the other end of Hong Kong’s construction spectrum, however, are the squatters shacks, where hundreds of thousands of people still live. These shacks present some of the most dangerous fires. The shacks are often on hillsides with no road access, explains Schaenman, and they are remote from water supplies. “It is physically difficult to get water on the fire and to undertake rescue, and there are hundreds of frightened, panicky people running around carrying whatever possessions they can rescue…. There are even squatters shacks on the roofs of some downtown high-rise buildings, since fire ordinances were written in a way that defines ‘premises’ as the insides of buildings and does not prohibit use of the roof! Fires among squatters often leave several hundred people homeless because of the ease with which they spread. Because it is easy to get out of their makeshift shacks, the squatters fires do not often cause many deaths, and even among the squatters there is a sense of family and respect by children for their parents, which tends to hold down the fire rate.”
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The fire service has helped get to the root of the problem somewhat by supporting programs to get the squatters into subsidized, fire resistant buildings.
SET UP OF FIRE SUPPRESSION FORCES
But fires do happen—in every culture, in every country. The Hong Kong territorial fire brigade has 6,200 paid personnel (of which 2,000 are ambulance attendants); and since Hong Kong doesn’t use volunteers, this leaves about one fire brigade member for every 855 people—another good argument for stringent fire prevention practices.
The Hong Kong fire service is especially well-organized and prepared for fighting fires in the harbor, at sea, and on the outlying islands, says Schaenman. “Their Marine and Off-Shore Islands Division has 230 firefighters and eight fireboats, one of which is an airport rescue launch.” Hong Kong experiences many “household” fires aboard the wooden junks on which several hundred thousand people live. The fire brigade also responds to the numerous ship collisions.
TriData’s report on “International Concepts in Fire Protection: Practices from Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand” as well as its previous report, “Ideas from Europe That Could Improve U.S. Fire Safety,” are available without charge to fire service professionals upon request. Contact: TriData Corporation, 1500 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22209.
Manning and response levels for Hong Kong call for four pieces of apparatus on all first alarms, bringing a total of 22-29 men. Response time is approximately six minutes.
“The high manning levels are justified partly on the basis of reducing fatigue and partly on the need for a large crew at high-rise fires,” explains Schaenman. The pumper crew consists of eight men; the aerial and snorkel each have six men; and the ambulance has a crew of two.
“A second alarm is sent automatically for any fire in a squatter area or for special risks, such as hospitals and underground malls or stations. This aids escape and rescue activities,” adds Schaenman.
The Japanese fire service has over one-million active volunteer firefighters and 128,000 full-time paid firefighters. This is roughly the same number of firefighters in the United States. However, when you consider that the population of Japan is 118-million as compared to 226.5-million in the United States, it’s easy to see that a United States firefighter is responsible for a 50% greater life hazard than a Japanese firefighter. A general rule of thumb, says Schaenman, is that every 10,000 people in Japan are covered by a fire station, which consists of a station chief, three battalion chiefs, several fire captains, and 100-300 men.
Photo courtesy of TriData Corporation
The main role of Japanese volunteer fire forces is fire prevention, although they also help suppression forces with mop up and overhaul. And in rural areas, the volunteer fire service may be the only suppression force.
The volunteers are trained in the same local or prefecture schools as are the paid firefighters. The prefecture governments, roughly like our states, are structured between the federal government and the municipalities. The prefectures have fire and emergency service agencies that provide advice to their municipal fire services.
The New Zealand fire service changed in 1976 from a wholly decentralized service under local jurisdictions to a totally centralized, national fire service, one of the few in the developed world, says Seits.
New Zealand has a population of three-million people, and a fire service consisting of 10,442 personnel under the direct control of the New Zealand Fire Service Commission. “The strong control by the Commission is balanced by an Appeals Board that settles disputes,” explains Seits. “Another balancing force is the unions. There are three major unions …, and they have a high level of input directly to the Commission. All ranks are represented in the unions, including senior officers.”
According to Seits, the nationalization of the New Zealand fire service has brought about the following advantages:
- Better personnel utilization, training, and professional development.
- Equipment standardization, with accompanying economies of common design, purchasing, support, and maintenance.
- Standard command and tactics practices.
- Uniform administration and enforcement of codes and ordinances, including rural areas.
- Centrally administered information systems, such as fire incident reporting and building inspection records.
- Common national communication linkages for routine and national emergency operations.
- Centrally focused research and development efforts, eliminating supplication and increasing the probability of meaningful results from adequately funded efforts.
- Improved standards of training in many areas.
- Fewer jurisdictional problems.
This centralization approach “may apply in the United States to consolidation of fire departments within county or multi-county jurisdictions, where many of the same benefits could be expected,” says Seits.
New Zealand’s 7,309 volunteers have some special features worth noting. The busiest all-volunteer stations often have a permanent employee who is responsible for maintaining the station and its equipment to help free the volunteers to fight fires.
“In mixed brigades comprised of volunteers and paid personnel in urban areas,” Seits adds, “the volunteer’s role is to back up the paid forces at larger fires and also to stand by to handle other calls while the main force is out.”
CONCLUSION
This brief synopsis of several overseas fire services and their fire prevention strategies and successes may hold out some options to America’s largely indifferent attitude toward prevention.
While the United States ranks as one of the best in the world when it comes to putting out fires, we also have one of the highest rates of firefighter deaths and injuries. As Schaenman says, “It’s high time we started taking advantage of the world’s pool of ideas.”
