After extensive lobbying by the INTERNATION ASSOCIATION OF FIRE FIGHTERS, H.R. 847, the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, was approved by a bipartisan majority of the U.S. House of Representatives. Congress first established screening, treatment, and compensation programs for 9/11 responders shortly after the terrorist attacks, and has continued to provide funding for the programs each year since. H.R. 847 strengthens the existing programs by expanding coverage to include those who lived near Ground Zero, creating a funding mechanism so the program is not subject to annual appropriations, and reopening the Victims Compensation Fund so people who became ill after the Fund was closed in 2003 can receive compensation. The bill now proceeds to the Senate. www.iaff.org.
The NATIONAL FIRE SPRINKLER ASSOCIATION (NFSA) announced that the City of Portland, Maine, has approved building code changes that will require all new one- and two-family homes and townhouses built in the city to be equipped with life-saving fire sprinkler systems. These new codes took effect on September 15, 2010. Portland’s Code Review Board voted 8-0 to adopt the 2009 editions of the NFPA codes 1, Fire Code, and 101, Life Safety Code, which include the requirement for life- and property-saving fire sprinklers in all new homes and townhomes. www.nfsa.org.
David Duncan, chief of the Westside Volunteer Fire Department in St. Albans, West Virginia, and Travis Morrow of the Lenoir (NC) Fire Department each won a set of TENCATE Peak Performance turnout gear in a drawing FDIC 2010. The sweepstakes was open to any active member of a paid or volunteer fire department. TenCate Millenia™ XT, TenCate Gemini™ and TenCate Quantum 3D®, along with a Gore Crosstech® moisture barrier, are part of the Peak Performance System™. www.tencateprotectivefabrics.com.
GLOBE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LLC; ZEPHYR TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION; and TRX SYSTEMS, INC.have teamed to develop and build an integrated body-worn electronics system for firefighters and first responders. The system will be immediately useful for workplace assessment, training, rehab, incident command, hazmat, SWAT, and RIT operations. Zephyr Technology delivers real-time physiological status monitoring solutions including sensors, wireless transmission, and remote displays and analysis. Globe will incorporate this technology into base-layer shirts to be worn in place of a cotton T-shirt. TRX Systems will deliver infrastructure-free location and tracking for personnel using a body-worn tracking unit and a mobile command station. Commercial deployment is slated for early 2012. www.globefiresuits.com. www.zephyr-technology.com. www.trxsystems.com.
The NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY’s (NIST’s) Construction Grant Program awarded $50 million in grants to five institutions to support the construction of new scientific research facilities. The grants include $13.1 million for the Golisano Institute for Sustainability Research Building at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York; $12.2 million for facilities expansions at the Center for Civil Engineering Earthquake Research at the University of Nevada—Reno; $9.5 million for the Center of Excellence in Nano Mechanical Science & Engineering at the University of Michigan—Ann Arbor; $9.1 million for the Center for Ocean Health at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in West Boothbay Harbor, Maine; and $6 million for the Western Institute of Nanotechnology on Green Engineering and Metrology at the University of California—Los Angeles. www.nist.gov.
Representatives from the EMERGENCY CARE AND SAFETY INSTITUTE (ECSI) along with more than 100 volunteer instructors attended the BOY SCOUT OF AMERICA’s (BSA’s) 100-Year Anniversary Jamboree to conduct one of the largest mass CPR and AED training sessions in history. Nearly 4,000 scouts were trained that day in spite of difficult weather conditions that included near 100°F temperatures, torrential downpours, and lightning storms throughout the afternoon and evening. www.ecsinstitute.org. www.scouting.org.
Fire Engineering Archives
