2010 NFPA Conference & Expo

An overview of Chicago's Iroquois Theater fire of 1903

One of the spotlight sessions this morning focused on historic Chicago fires and their impact on code development. Paul Hart, regional field leader with Global Asset Protection Services in Homewood, IL, provided an overview of the tragic Iroquois Theater fire of 1903. The theater, billed as "Absolutely Fireproof", was occupied with 1,924 people who had crowded in to see a production of "Mr. Blue Beard" starring Eddie Foy.

Mr. Hart said the investigation showed that the fire was sparked by an arc light which ignited scenery curtains. An asbestos fire curtain was dropped on the stage, but was snagged on the way down and stopped about 10 feet above the stage, which allowed toxic smoke and flames to flow into the auditorium.

Once fire spread into the seating area, all lighting in the theater was lost. Mr. Hart said that 602 people perished in the blaze, most from crowd-crush, and another 250 theater-goers were injured. The fire was brought under control in about 15 minutes by responding firefighters.

Some of the changes made to building codes following the Iroquois Theater fire included the use of steel fire curtains, independent lighting systems for stairs and corridors, and requirements to keep passageways free of obstructions.

Read an NFPA Journal® overview of the Iroquois Theater fire, including an eyewitness account from actor Eddie Foy.

- Mike Hazell

A fully sprinklered, fully accessible home

Having an accessible home does not necessarily mean a safe home. A presentation called "Case Study: Building a Fully Sprinklered, Full Accessible Single Family Home" featured the story of Utawna Leap, a Madison Township, OH, resident who built a fully accessible, safe home for her daughter, Lianna, who contracted cerebral palsy as a result of a birth injury. Read the full story in this article from the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition (see page 10).

Featured at the NFPA presentation were (from left): Robert Kleinheinz of the National Fire Sprinkler Association; Lianna Leap and her mother, Utawna Leap; Bill Scott of Abilities UNlimited; Peg Paul of Peg Paul & Associates; and Allan Fraser, NFPA Senior Building Code Specialist.

Situation awareness and the fireground commander

 
A 2007 report from the National Fire Fighter Near-Miss Reporting System identified issues with “situation awareness” (SA) as the leading factor in firefighter near-miss events. Richard Gasaway of the Roseville (MN) Fire Department, who led today’s session called “Firefighter fatalities: 50 Ways to Get Your ‘Brother’", has undertaken a comprehensive study of situation awareness at fire incidents. He said that understanding what impacts a fireground commander’s SA is an important step toward reducing casualties.

Based on his research, with a primary focus on residential dwelling fires, Mr. Gasaway categorized the most challenging issues that negatively impact a fireground commander’s SA:

Staffing barriers
i.e. under-staffing, unpredictable staffing, response time delays, lack of experience, quality of staffing

Communication
i.e. missed radio communication, misunderstood words or phrases, too much radio traffic, non-compatible radios

Physical and/or mental stress-related issues
i.e. overload, being overwhelmed, frustration, anxiety, anger, excitement, boredom, pressure

Excessive workload or poor workload management
i.e. multi-tasking, performing non-command tasks, assuming multiple roles, incident complexity

Mr. Gasaway’s research showed that fireground commanders most often get in trouble because they don’t capture and comprehend the most important cues (i.e. smoke) on the fire scene. Other issues include their attempts to process too much information, underestimating the speed of the incident, over-estimating the abilities of their crew, and feeling cultural or social pressure to take some “heroic” action at the scene.

Mr. Gasaway’s research culminated in the development of a ‘top ten” list of best practices for fireground commanders:

1. Prioritize incoming information
2. Set strategy and tactics based on quality and quantity of staffing
3. Remain focused on big picture incident
4. Do not perform firefighter duties
5. Never miss communications from most at-risk companies
6. Run command from a vehicle or remote location where you can keep a visual fix on the incident
7. Control distractions and interruptions
8. Use command aides (ie. Worksheets, checklists) and advisors
9. Establish and maintain a strong command presence
10. Accelerate development of command expertise

- Mike Hazell

Fire fighting with a pioneer spirit

The United States is still a country of pioneers. Americans live in the tiny nooks and crannies of this land and the number of rural communities (those with populations less than 2,500) that make up our 307 million population is extensive. Sharon Gamache, NFPA's director of High-Risk Outreach Programs, in her session "Reaching People in Rural Communities," discussed helping those who live "separate" from the rest of us with a highly passionate group in her session this morning.

In an informal survey of attendees, public advocates working in these areas said that the economic desperation, the lack of services including health care, and the distrust of government as standing in their way to saving lives in this sector.

The fire death rate is twice as high in rural communities, said Ms. Gamache. She pointed out that every state in the country has rural communities, and that such a community isn't what we might traditionally think of as rural. "Only 1 person in 100 people living in rural communities actually lives on a farm," she said.

The leading cause of fire in rural communities is heating, followed by smoking and electrical distribution, said Ms. Gamache.

Download a free copy of "Mitigation of the Rural Fire Problem in the United States", a study published by the U.S. Fire Administration and NFPA.

- Lisa Nadile

Getting started: coffee, a bus ride, and a cow

Yesterday morning, I walked the vast halls of McCormick Place, wanting to connect with some of the attendees and take an early pulse of the conference. Generally the thoughts I encountered were along the lines of “I need coffee. Where’s the coffee?”  I could empathize.

While waiting to climb on the bus that would take me for a daylong visit to Fermilab (more on that later), I spoke with Ed Waterson, a firefighter and supervisor/emergency response coordinator with Schering-Plough in Summit, NJ. Our conversation drifted from his work in hazmat and training to mass notification. I also met Gordon Biezeveld of the Netherlands, the fire and security industry manager of Europe and Latin America for UL International. He was joining the Underwriters Laboratories tour to see how UL conducts its testing “Chicagoland-style”.

Onboard the bus, a couple of locals gave us a “building-by-building” narrative, replete with fire engineering updates. I learned that Chicago built its fire academy on the site where the O’Leary’s barn, the apex of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, was located. Whether or not the infamous cow belonging to Mrs.O’Leary started the fire? “Mrs. O’Leary and her cows were down for the night. I can’t see them kicking over lanterns,” said one fellow rider.

It turns out that a few years ago, the city of Chicago held a mock trial, and “Peg Leg Sullivan”, the man who raised the alarm on the fire, was convicted of setting the blaze. Mrs. O’Leary’s cow was exonerated. NFPA’s annual Fire Prevention Week campaign commemorates the Great Chicago Fire. Read more about the myth of the O’Leary’s cow.

- Lisa Nadile

"Green" effort means no paper hand-outs at Chicago conference

The NFPA Conference & Expo is going “green” in Chicago. We’re trying to reduce the amount of paper that we use, so when you register at the event, you’ll receive a memory stick that contains copies of all of the session hand-outs that we received by May 1. In addition, we won’t be distributing any hand-outs at our education sessions, but meeting attendees can sign-in to our Web site now and download our session hand-outs. These documents will be available for download through the end of June.

Browse NFPA education sessions; build a personal itinerary

 
Here's an easy way to browse all of the education sessions that we'll be offering at our conference in Chicago this June.

With this online program planner, you can search for specific content, or look through categories that are sorted by day, our 10 educational tracks, and/or by sponsoring Member Section. You can even create a personalized itinerary of your sessions and other events.

Please note that use of NFPA's online program planner does not represent a paid registration. If you would like to register for our 2009 Conference & Expo, our "early-bird" pricing deadline is April 30. All paid registrants will receive an e-mail confirming their attendance.

Download the 2009 conference brochure

Take a look at our new, 12-page brochure (PDF, 3.4 MB) for a full preview of our upcoming conference.

Inside, you'll find a run-down of our more than 130 educational sessions, including dozens of case studies, test results, and code updates, as well as details on the 21 pre-conference seminars we'll be offering on June 6-7.

And don't forget: you get free Expo-only registration if you sign-up by April 30, 2009.

Conference session to focus on collapse of World Trade Center Building 7

On Wednesday, June 10, we will feature a presentation from Dr. Shyam Sunder of the National Institute of Standards and Technology-NIST.  Dr. Sunder, Director of the Building and Fire Research Laboratory, was NIST's lead investigator for of the World Trade Center disaster. He will discuss his report on the collapse of World Trade Center Tower 7.  This presentation will describe the investigation process, and the analysis necessary to determine the sequence of events that resulted in the collapse of Building 7.

Fire Protection Engineer roundtable

By Lisa Nadile

I caught the tail-end of the fire protection engineer's (FPE) roundtable led by William Koffel of Koffel Associates, and sponsored by the Society of Fire Protection Engineering. The group was active, participating in the discussion with other panel members. From what I gathered, education is a big issue. Getting building officials, city councils, and home builders to see the value of bringing FPEs on board would be key to solving many issues. For example, even if a jurisdiction decides to make the hire, if they don’t fully understand the position, they may set the starting salary too low and not attract the right people or any applicants at all.   

The growth of performance-based design (PBD) was also discussed. According to Azarang “Ozzie” Mirkhah of Las Vegas Fire and Rescue, Las Vegas is certainly no stranger to PBD with all the unique structures cropping up on the strip. “Now we’re moving to performance-based design for residential structures. I’m using this opportunity to promote residential sprinklers,” he said.