September Issue Themed To Fire Prevention
departments
From the Publishers Desk
Fire Prevention—education, codes and code enforcement—will be the theme of our September IAFC Conference and Buyers’ Guide Issue. In it, our editor has provided articles on the major fire prevention areas that any fire department must cover, if it is to do its job well.
One of the major areas to be covered is smoke detectors, with an in-depth article by one of our star correspondents, Dick Nailen. Nailen, an engineer with broad connections in the fire service, ranging from the Midwest to California, has covered smoke detectors in every aspect, including the mechanical and psychological.
An interesting piece of information that we picked out of this article is that 50 million smoke detectors were installed in buildings in America in a two-year period, but our property loss and death loss went up. Another shocker is a statement that “it must be concluded that safety claims concerning arousal made for present-day smoke alarms are probably unfounded and that the implied sense of security given by them is questionable.”
Turning to another area, we will have an in-depth study, this one telling of the innovative approaches taken in the Twin Cities as a result of adopting the new Minnesota uniform fire code. In St. Paul, a new organization creates a career path beginning with fire prevention aides up through fire prevention technician who report via an assistant fire marshal to the fire marshal.
In Minneapolis, the fire department is working out a process to make the new state code compatible with the city s housing maintenance code which sets standards for maintenance of dwellings.
Education will be covered in September by two reports especially written for Fire Engineering by the United States Fire Administration. One covers the Public Education Assistance Program and the other a novel fire prevention television program for children prepared by the people who made “Sesame Street” famous.
