NEWS IN BRIEF
FEMA urged to mandate residential sprinkler systems for manufactured homes
Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA), chairman of the Subcommittee on Science, Committee on Science, Space and Technology, is urging the Federal Emergency Management Agency to adopt as part of its relief disaster program a program that requires manufactured homes it acquires to be equipped with residential sprinkler systems.
In his letter to James Lee Witt, FEMA director, dated September 12, 1994, Boucher referred to USFA data showing that the fire death rate in manufactured dwellings is double that for other homes and that the rate of deaths and injuries increased about 30 percent between 1983 and 1990. He noted also that, while the USFA has been engaged in efforts to promote the use of residential sprinklers, FEMA has not “ led by example” when it has had to enter the commercial market for manufactured homes. Of FEMA’s current inventory of 5,000 manufactured homes, none are equipped with sprinkler systems, even though they had been purchased within the past five years, “at a time when the life-saving value of sprinkler systems was clearly understood,” Boucher pointed out.
FEMA’s adoption of a clear and wellpublicized policy of purchasing only sprinkler-equipped manufactured homes would increase the personal safety of recipients of FEMA housing assistance and eliminate the inconsistency between the USFA’s research and public education efforts and FEMA’s procurement practices, Boucher concluded.
BOCA’s aboveground fire-rated storage tank standards upheld
A proposal that would have substituted NFFA 30A-1993 for the Building Officials and Code Administrators International (BOCA) safety standards now governing fire-rated tanks was defeated by a two to one margin at BOCA’s annual conference recently held in Dearborn. Michigan.
The proposal was presented by representatives of the Steel Tank Institute, the trade association of bare steel shell storage tank manufacturers. Fire service delegations from New Jersey. Ohio, and Virginia led the Boor fight in opposition to the ST1 proposal.
Manufacturer offers to buy back propane heaters posing carbon monoxide threat
Bemzomatic of Medina, New York, in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, is offering owners of models TX900 and TX900A propane heaters $250 for the return of the heaters to the company. A defective burner in the heaters has been identified as the cause of carbon monoxide poisoning that has killed at least 42 people, six of them since 1987, says the CPSC.
About 40,000 of the portable propane gas radiant heaters were sold nationwide between 1962 and 1966. Bemzomatic originally recalled the camping-style heaters in 1966 and reissued the recall in 1987, 1988, 1989, and 1990. About 7,000 of the heaters are believed to still be in use; they are often resold in yard sales and second-hand stores.
The recalled heaters have a green metal cabinet about nine inches wide, 14 inches high, and seven inches deep. There is room inside for one or two 14.1-ounce propane gas cylinders. The front of the heater bears the name “BernzOmatic.” On the inside of the rear door are instructions and the words “Portable Gas Radiant Heater.”
Consumers should stop using the heater and call Bemzomatic at (800) 828-7611.
NDMS conference set for March 12-16,1995
More than 1,000 individuals involved in the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) are expected to attend the annual meeting to be held March 12-16, 1995. in Nashville, Tennessee. Peter Podell of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Tom Cushing of the Department of Veterans Affairs will cochair the conference. Sponsors, in addition to FEMA and the Veterans Administration, are the Department of Defense, the U.S. Public Health Sendee, and the Central U.S. Earthquake Consortium. For more information, contact NDMS Conference, Regional Medical Education Center; Suite 500. Medical Forum; 950 North 22nd Street; Birmingham. AL 35203; (205) 731-1812, ext. 302.
Safety education kit aimed at children three to five years of age
“Play Safe! Be Safe!” a multimedia fire safety education program for children of preschool age, was designed by Dr. Robert Cole and Paul Schwartzman, who have been affiliated with the Fireproof Children model fire prevention/counseling program in Rochester, New York, for the past 10 years, and underwritten by the BIC® Corporation in Milford, Connecticut.
The program includes a videotape and a variety of educational products, games, and activities that, in conjunction with the video, reinforce fire safety behaviors. For a kit, write to “Play Safe! Be Safe!” Children’s Fire Safety Education Program, BIC Corporation, 500 BIC Drive, Milford, CT 06460; (203) 783-2110. Organizations that can afford it are asked to send a check in the amount of $9.95 payable to BIC Corporation to defray postage and handling costs.
NFPA signs agreement with COPANT
The objectives of an agreement between the National Fire Protection Association and the Panamerican Standards Commission (COPANT) are to work toward the adoption and recognition of NFPA codes and standards in Latin American and Caribbean regions and the development of methods for making those documents easily available to COPANT’s member nations.
Under the agreement, the NFPA will work closely with the Argentinean Institute for Standards of Materials, which holds the fire safety secretariat within COPANT, and the Latin-American Fire Protection Organization. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the coordinating organization of the U.S. voluntary standardization system, is also a party to the agreement.
UL announces standards purchasing options
Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL) offers the following options for acquiring its standards.
- Site License Service: The licensee is authorized to reproduce and distribute limited copies of a UL standard(s) for the licensee’s internal use only. Standards can be reproduced in hard copy or on diskette for a term of three years. License cost is determined by the number of copies an organization will reproduce. Participants can realize a 40 to 90 percent discount off the regular subscription price.
- Sets: Groups of standards used to evaluate similar components, products, or systems are sold as a single set, as a three-year sub-
- scription, or under the Site License Service in hard copy or diskette formats in the areas of Plastics, Industrial Control Equipment, Electric Signs and Information Technology and Business Equipment. Quantity discounts apply to purchases of multiple copies of a single standard or for single UL or multiple copies of several UL standards. A 10 to 50 percent saving is possible with quantity purchases of a standard or three-year subscription.
Information about UL’s Site Licensing Service is available from Carol Parsin, UL, 333 Pfingsten Road, Northbrook. IL 60062; (708) 272-8800. ext. 43331, fax (708) 5991849. A free catalog of UL standards and standards sets can be obtained from UL’s Publications Stock Department at ext. 42622, fax (708) 272-0293.
Gift enhances WPI’s Distinguished Scholar Endowment
Industrial Risk Insurers of Hartford, Connecticut, recently contributed $25,000 to Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s Fire Protection Engineering Distinguished Scholar Endowment, bringing the fund to within 90 percent of its $1 million goal.
The Endowment, according to David A. Lucht, professor and director of WPI’s Center for Firesafety Studies, will be used to fund “various combinations of teaching assistantships and sponsored lectures, the addition of specialized equipment, and support of faculty in pursuit of their scholarly interests.”
Associate’s degree in fire science available through independent study program
A two-year associate of applied science degree in fire science can be attained through independent study from Pikes Peak Community College in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Designed with the working fire professional in mind, all requirements for the 67-semester-hour program can be completed off campus. The degree is fully accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Credit for work experience, professional certifications, and courses taken at accredited colleges also may be applicable. For more information, contact Jack R. Royer, fire science coordinator at Pikes Peak Community College, at (800) 777-9446.
Bill would fund slate and local data-gathering and public education initiatives
The Fire Safety and Prevention Education Act of 1994. introduced September 19, 1994, by Sen. Richard Bryan (D-NV), cochairman of the Senate Fire Sendee Caucus, would provide over a three-year period grants to fund state and local programs that generate fire data and expand public education. The first year of the program would provide grants to states implementing the recently revised National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS). The U.S. Fire Administration would administer the program.
The objective of the proposed bill, notes Bryan, is to reduce the number of innocent people killed by fires every year. “Education is, without question, our most costeffective weapon in the fight against accidental fires,” he adds.
Sen. Slade Gorton (H-WA), cochairman of the Senate Fire Caucus, joined Bryan in introducing the bill. Rep. Steny Moyer (DMD) introduced similar fire prevention legislation in the House of Representatives on the same date. According to a spokesperson in Bryan’s office, the proposal probably will not be considered this year.
