Fire Service Today

Keeping up to date

If one of your New Year's resolutions is to overcome your fear of technology, I have something for you! It's called Really Simple Syndication, or RSS. It's an easy way for you to get the content of blogs, podcasts, and other web-based information delivered to your Internet browser (in a bookmark format) or directly to your Microsoft Outlook inbox.

NFPA's website has a list of all the items it can "feed" you through RSS. (If you are looking for it on the home page at www.nfpa.org, look at the bottom margin and you'll see "RSS"). To subscribe to one or more of the RSS feeds, just click on the one you want and it'll pop up a new window asking which web reader you want to use to subscribe. For instance, if you use Yahoo email, you can subscribe using Yahoo's web reader.  "Subscriptions" are free, by the way.

What I do is click "View Feed XML" - it pops up another window and then I click "Subscribe to this feed". I can find my subscriptions by using a Feeds bookmark on Internet Explorer when I'm on the web, but my favorite way to use it is in Microsoft Outlook. Yup, Outlook will let you create an RSS Feeds folder and the headlines and updates come to you. Right now, my RSS Feeds folder includes subfolders for NFPA's e-committee pages, where I get instant updates that let me know when people are adding or changing things on the pages; the NFPA Podcast so I can go listen to what's new; and NFPA Research Headlines.

Go ahead, check it out! You can get updates from the NFPA Conference & Expo blog, Coalition for Fire Safe Cigarettes news, and of course, be plugged into Fire Service Today 24/7. And don't worry.

Michele Steinberg

Re-building after wildfire

As the holiday season approaches, we are keeping the residents of California in our thoughts as they prepare to recover from the latest wildfires. Firewise Communities program manager Jim Smalley offered his view on the rebuilding effort in and interview with NEWSWEEK.

To help your district and residents prepare their homes and communities to be less vulnerable from wildfire, use the resources available at www.firewise.org. Check out this example, a powerful Public Service Announcement you can use in your area.

--Michele Steinberg

Apparatus Placement Saves Troopers

Four NJ Troopers were saved yesterday when a well placed piece of fire apparatus shielded them from on oncoming tractor trailer on I-80. Under the category of ironic (or perhaps "I told you so") in November, 2006, Deputy Chief Robert Jenkins of the Rockaway Township Fire Department was arrested by a New Jersey State Trooper after he refused to move a fire truck that was in a blocking position protecting responders in the right lane of Route 80 at an accident scene. More on that story in my upcoming article in Firehouse titled “Police-Fire Wars”.

See more on the recent crash

Curt Varone

Snow and Hydrants

I am sure the issue of fire hydrants being buried by snow is not an issue throughout the country but I just wanted to take a minute to bring up the fact that in winter time we find many hydrants to be buried by snow. This issue should not only concern fire departments but also any homeowner that might have a hydrant located near their home. With the likelihood of a heavy snow fall today in Massachusetts and more to come I think it only appropriate to note that it wouldn't hurt, and possibly even help, if you knew of a hydrant that was buried in snow near your home that you take a minute to dig it out. In many towns this may be done by the fire, highway or water dept. but given the workload they will be facing with significant snow storms lets take a minute to safely attempt to dig out any hydrants that might be buried. Your public safety professionals will surely be grateful you did.

Ken Holland

2008 - Where Are We?

Here's a link to an interesting article from Firehouse.com highlighting fire service advances in 2008, particularly an initiative called Vision 20/20. If you are not aware of Vision 20/20 - take the time now to get yourself up to speed on this important program.

Curt Varone

Helmet Art - Where do you stand?

Here is an interesting stroy that I saw on the news and found the article in the Boston Globe.

Today's Boston Globe article

I was wondering what others thought about this? It seems one could argue for both sides but I was curious what others might think about this and the actions from their Chief.

Ken Holland

2008 Public Fire Chair Forum

On December 10 and 11, 2008, the Public Fire Protection Division hosted the first PFP Technical Committee Chair Forum at NFPA Headquarters in Quincy.  Thirty-two of the 45 PFP chairs attended the event. The forum was an opportunity for the exchange of ideas and best practices among the leaders of the technical committees that develop standards for the fire service.

Curt Varone

Keeping your community safe and warm

Heating equipment is one of the leading causes of home fires during the winter months. Our greatest defense against these fires is education. That's why NFPA has developed "Keeping Your Community Safe and Warm”, a new toolkit of support materials designed to help public fire and life safety educators conduct heating-safety campaigns in their communities.

NFPA has mailed more than 32,000 of these toolkits to fire departments across the U.S., and posted all of the materials for free online. Toolkit materials include: fill-in-the-blank news releases, printable public service announcements, and a new home heating safety video starring Dan Doofus.

http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=1725&itemID=41299

Curt Varone

NFPA 1221 is Seeking Technical Experts

The NFPA 1221 Technical Committee for Public Emergency Communications is seeking persons with technical expertise in the area of telecommunications.  Specifically, they are seeking people with experience in the land-line communication technology to apply for committee membership.  The purpose of NFPA 1221, Standard for the Installation, Maintenance, and Use of Emergency Services Communications Systems, is:
(1)  To specify operations, facilities, and communications systems that receive alarms from the public
(2)  To provide requirements for the retransmission of such alarms to the appropriate emergency response agencies
(3)  To provide requirements for dispatching of appropriate emergency response personnel
(4)  To establish the required levels of performance and quality of installations of emergency services communications systems

More information about NFPA 1221 can be found here at the NFPA 1221 document page

An application for committee membership is available here

Larry Stewart

2009 Harvard Fire Executive Fellowship Program

Application procedures have been announced for the 2009 Harvard Executive Fire Officer Fellowship Program. The program is once again sponsored through a partnership between the IAFC, the International Fire Service Training Association/Fire Protection Publications, the National Fire Protection Association and the U.S. Fire Administration.

Each organization funds the tuition costs for 2 senior fire executives each year, for a total of 8 fellowships. The 3-week program will be conducted in June and July 2009 on the Harvard campus in Cambridge, Mass.

The Application can be downloaded from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard web site at http://ksgexecprogram.harvard.edu/download/ksgapp.doc

Applications should be mailed no later than February 11, 2009. Click here for additional program details, application criteria, and guidelines from the IAFC website.

Curt Varone