Fire service-based EMS promoted during National EMS Week
During National EMS Week, observed from May 17-23, the Fire Service-Based EMS Advocates Coalition, in Washington, DC, provided members of Congress, federal agencies, and others with information that will help garner their support for fire service-based EMS systems throughout the nation. Additional information is at www.fireserviceems.com.
Stipends for demonstrating home sprinklers
The nonprofit Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition (HFSC) has instituted a stipend program for U.S. and Canadian fire departments that would like to educate the public on the benefits of home fire sprinkler systems. HFSC will offer a $1,000 stipend to fire departments to conduct live home fire sprinkler demonstrations. The stipend will pay for materials to build the side-by-side fire and sprinkler burn demonstration units and other costs to host the events. The HFSC free Fire and Sprinkler Burn Demonstration Kit (http://bit.ly/1cAkhXg) contains information on how to build the demonstration units and conduct the public education event.
Only fire departments that are members of HFSC’s free Built for Life Fire Department (BFLFD) Program can apply for the stipend. Fire departments can sign up to become a BFLFD at http://bit.ly/1H5l3DI. More than 2,500 fire departments have committed to the program to date.
USDA awards grant for research on tall wood construction
The American Wood Council (AWC), in conjunction with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Fire Protection Research Foundation and the Property Insurance Research Group (PIRG), will study how mass timber buildings perform in fires. This research, funded by a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, according to the AWC, “is intended to advance the construction of taller wood buildings in the United States by demonstrating the fire performance of newer mass timber products.” The PIRG, a consortium of property insurance companies, is contributing $175,000 toward the project.
Tall wood buildings have been constructed in London and Prince George, Canada, and a 14-story building is under construction in Bergen, Norway. The research findings are to “inform the building community and the insurance industry, providing an increased level of confidence in both the adequacy of this new construction type and when setting fire insurance premiums,” explains AWC Vice President of Codes & Regulations Kenneth Bland.
Bland adds that increased use of wood in building construction also has the potential to improve environmental impacts such as encouraging sustainable forestry and capturing large amounts of carbon, which will reduce greenhouse emissions through sequestration and the substitution of wood for more carbon-intensive products.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says the study is a way “to promote deployment of new technologies designed to support new market opportunities for wood energy and innovative wood building materials.”
The NFPA Fire Protection Research Foundation is managing the project, which is expected to take two years.
DHS S&T and CAL OES work to increase geospatial awareness
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) have entered into a partnership in which they will collaborate to advance public safety information sharing, advises John S. Verrico, chief of media relations, S&T. The initiative will help advance information sharing across all levels of government and the private sector to provide front-line first responders with faster access to critical information and to help increase responder safety and effectiveness in saving lives and reducing property damage, according to DHS Under Secretary for Science and Technology Dr. Reginald Brothers.
The goal is to establish over the next 12 months data-sharing links between Cal OES and DHS’s Geospatial Information Infrastructure and facilitate the development of an incident management information-sharing capability that will facilitate first responder agencies in determining areas for improvement.
Cal OES has taken a leading role in the First Responders Resource Group, providing the DHS S&T with feedback and guidance on requirements for first responders’ needs. The two parties will also work to strengthen satellite communications capabilities for first responders in rural areas with low connectivity and enhance support to the wildland fire community users of the Next-Generation Incident Command System, which includes the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. DHS S&T also participates in the Cal OES public safety information-sharing initiative known as the California Common Operating Platform. Additional information is at http://scitech.dhs.gov.
The WTC Health Program’s Web site adds resources
Ben Chevat, executive director of 9/11 Health Watch, has announced the availability of new online resources for individuals interested in the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program.
The general Web site is http://www.cdc.gov/wtc/. A new WTC Health Program Member Handbook (www.cdc.gov/wtc/memberhandbook.html) describes member benefits and includes important contact numbers. The site also offers basic program information such as the “Program at a Glance” page (www.cdc.gov/wtc/ataglance.html). The site offers information relative to the number of members enrolled in the program, member distribution across the United States, and cancer cases and member certifications.
Bird flu outbreak serious in Midwest
In May, the H5 strain of avian (bird) flu outbreak in Iowa grew to proportions that led Governor Terry Branstad to declare a state of emergency. Minnesota and Wisconsin had declared states of emergency in April. The outbreak has involved farms and egg-laying facilities and the destroying of chickens and turkeys.
LINE-OF-DUTY DEATHS
March 16. Fire Apparatus Operator Daryl Gordon, 54, Cincinnati (OH) Fire Department: injuries sustained in a fall down an elevator shaft while working with fire crews in an apartment building fire.
March 27. Firefighter Barry Van Horn, 63, Somerville (NJ) Fire Department-West: heart attack.
March 30. Pilot Brandon Ricks, 40, United States Forest Service-National Forests, Jackson, MS: helicopter crash.
March 30. Forest Service Engineering Technician Steve Cobb, 55, United States Forest Service-National Forests, Jackson, MS: helicopter crash.
April 2. Fire Police Captain John J. Doster, 95, Edgely Fire Company #1, Inc., Levittown, PA: medical injury suffered in February while conducting traffic at a fire scene.
April 12. Firefighter Steven Ackerman, 38, Valley Springs (SD) Fire & Rescue: injuries sustained in a basement residential fire.
April 13. Inmate Firefighter Raymond Araujo, 37, CALFIRE, Sacramento, CA: heart attack suffered during a training exercise.
April 16. Captain Andrew “Andy” Zalme, 42, Dakota City (NE) Fire Department: cause unknown.
April 19. Fire Police Lieutenant Curtis E. Nordsick, 71, Wrightsville (PA) Steam Engine & Hose Company #1: unknown.
April 27. Training Officer/Firefighter Mike Corn, 68, Conway Springs (KS) Fire Department: unknown.
April 30. Firefighter Timothy T. Peters, 46, Pine Grove (PA) Hose, Hook and Ladder Fire Co. No. 1: apparent heart attack.
May 3. Engineer/Firefighter Larry Wayne Lawhorn, 60, Orchard Farm Fire Protection District, St. Charles, MO: unknown.
May 3. Firefighter Christopher Michael Blankenship, 41, Madison County Fire Department, Jackson, TN: injuries sustained at a vehicle fire when a tree fell on him.
May 4. Lieutenant Ricky Thurman, 54, Swainsboro (GA) Fire Department: cardiac arrest suffered on April 24; he was resuscitated and then passed away in the hospital.
May 5. Firefighter Timothy Gunther, 54, Poughkeepsie (NY) Fire Department: experienced heart-related symptoms on the scene of a residential fire on May 4; despite medical treatment and surgery, he passed away the next day.
May 6. Lieutenant Kevin McRae, 44, Washington (DC) Fire Department: cardiac arrest.
Source: USFA Firefighters Memorial Database
