Fire Service Today

Time to get your traveling shoes on for upcoming fire service conferences and committee meetings

With the temperature rising and vacations coming up, it’s also time for some big events in the fire service: FDIC in April, FRI in August and, of course, the NFPA Conference and Expo in Chicago, June 10-13, at McCormick Place Convention Center.

But it doesn’t stop there!

There are Technical Committees meeting all over the country to discuss and improve many NFPA Standards, such as:

NFPA 1936, Powered Rescue Tools, Charlotte, NC (April 10-11)

NFPA 1931 & 1932, Fire Department Ground Ladders, St. Louis, MO (May 1)

NFPA 1581, 1583 & 1584, Fire Department Occupational Safety and Health standards, Ft. Lauderdale, FL (April 30 – May 2)

NFPA 405, 408 & 422, Airport Fire-Fighting, Coconut Grove, FL (May 8-9)

Guests are welcome and encouraged at all NFPA meetings – please join us!

-Chris Farrell

NFPA 1730 Deployment and Organization of Fire Prevention Activities

The NFPA Standards Council voted to approve the release of the draft of NFPA 1730, Standard on Organization and Deployment of Fire Prevention Inspection and Code Enforcement, Plan Review, Investigation, and Public Education Operations to the Public for public input for the Annual 2015 cycle Download Schedule. The draft will be available to sumit public input in the coming months. The public input closing date is September 9, 2013, not what is published for the Annual 2015 cycle. To keep up to date on this document and the availablility of the draft go to www.nfpa.org/1730 and click on ALERTS.
Steven Sawyer

Committee for NFPA 950 looks at applicability of GIS as tool to standardize data for all-hazards response

Imagine – you’re asleep in the station, it’s been a quiet day, then BANG! The alarm goes off and you rush out of the house. Did anyone catch the address? What’s the call? Did they say special hazard?!

We never know what we might find ourselves involved with, or when it may happen. In response to this, the Technical Committee for NFPA 950 is meeting in Seattle next week, March 5-7, for a first draft meeting. The scope of the document is:

“ . . . to standardize data for operable information sharing in support of the all-hazards response.”

Consider that for a moment, an all-hazards response. One important aspect of that is the applicability of GIS as an extremely useful tool in the field. An excellent recent article in Fire Engineering used a case study from West Liberty Fire Department in Ohio to assess rural water supply. GIS analysis enables users to have important information at their fingertips with a little bit of planning and organization.

A recent article in Fire Chief provides another great use of GIS, one we may not immediately think of. The Vulnerability Impact Protocol for Environmental Resources, or VIPER, is a tool to help contain and mitigate runoff from fire-suppression efforts. It was developed by the International Association of Fire Chiefs' Environmental Sustainability Committee. It uses GIS to aid in prevention of contamination of the water supply from fire fighting operations.

Take a moment and think about how your department could use GIS to enhance response and provide responders with more information – I bet you can come up with a great idea!

- Chris Farrell

NFPA committee takes on functional capabilities for technical search and rescue

Just this past December a man was rescued after falling 20 feet while working inside a wind turbine.  Wind turbines can present organizations providing technical search and rescue services with a number of challenges.  For example, the area inside the turbine can combine the hazards of working in a high angle, confined space environment.  So how should technical rescue organizations prepare to deal with incidents in these types of situations?

NFPA 1670, Standard on Operations and Training for Technical Search and Rescue Incidents, details the levels of functional capability for organizations conducting operations at technical search and rescue incidents.  Some of the disciplines covered within this document include rope rescue, structural collapse, confined space, trench, water, and machinery, just to name a few. Organizations should meet the requirements within this standard for the level of service that they intend to provide. 

The technical requirements within NFPA 1670 are determined by the Technical Committee on Technical Search and Rescue. NFPA 1670 is currently halfway through the revision process for the document’s next edition, and the Technical Committee will be meeting next week in Fort Lauderdale, FL for the document’s Second Draft Meeting. Some the items up for discussion during this meeting include new chapters on Tower Rescue and Animal Technical Rescue. 

For more information regarding the Technical Committee on Technical Search and Rescue, NFPA 1670, and the upcoming meeting, visit the NFPA 1670 Document Information page. 

Ryan Depew

Watch out! Here comes technology!

NFPA 950 is a new draft standard on data development and exchange in the fire service entering its first revision cycle. It deals with issues of interoperability for an all-hazards response and GIS. This is an interesting time for the industry in relation to the fire service because the FCC allowed two locations – Harris County, TX, and Charlotte, NC – to go live with a National Public Safety Network in the second half of 2012. Along with a $7 billion dollar appropriation, Congress established FirstNet, the First Responder’s Network Authority, to help make the project a reality nationwide (Government Technology, Wayne Hanson, 8.20.12). Recently, written about in FierceGovernmentIT, there has been some discussion about whether to make it a standalone infrastructure or a network of networks. NFPA 950 is right in the thick of it. How data is shared across organizations in an all-hazards response is exactly what the committee considers. The scope, in 1.2.2, says:

This standard defines system structure, design, process and performance management, and data requirements to support the fire service and enable consistent and accurate data exchange between systems.

NFPA 950 is currently accepting public input before its first draft meeting. You have until January 4th, 2013, to submit public input for the committee to consider. Just follow the link and select the tab for ‘Next edition’ and then click on ‘Submit public input online’.

 Chris Farrell

NFPA 1730 to meet to develop draft document

The NFPA 1730, Stadard for Deployment and Organziation of Fire Prevention Activities Committee is meeting on October 29-31 in San Diego to work on the draft standard.  The committee hopes to have the draft completed for the March 2013 NFPA Standards Council Meeting for them to release for public input (old proposal). For additonal information go to www.nfpa.org/1730 and click on the next edition tab.  This tab will have all the meeting information.

Steven Sawyer

Calling all enforcers: the future of wildland firefighting qualifications depends on you!

Are you a state fire marshal or fire commissioner? Someone who represents an agency that enforces wildland fire standards? The National Fire Protection Association needs your expertise on its committee developing the standard on Wildland Fire Fighting Professional Qualifications. And if you qualify, NFPA will cover up to 80% of your travel expenses to participate in committee meetings.

Why enforcers? Those who enforce fire and life safety standards are often in short supply on NFPA's Technical Committees, sometimes due to their many job responsibilities and sometimes because the cost of traveling to committee meetings is simply out of reach.

NFPA's Technical Committees are responsible for the development and revisions to NFPA documents based on public input, public comments and committee input.  These committees work best when there is a broad representation from every interest area.  NFPA is committed to ensure that each interest category is fully represented. 

This is where YOU, as an enforcer, can help.  When enforcers serve on NFPA committees, they bring a unique set of experiences and insights to the process, which adds to the overall quality of the documents.  Enforcers share their technical expertise when they participate and also provide an invaluable perspective on the practical application of NFPA codes and standards in the field.

If you are involved in enforcing any kinds of wildland fire standards, especially statewide, you may be just who NFPA is looking for. The standard, also known as 1051, covers entrance standards and qualifications for a variety of professions in wildland fire fighting, including Wildland Fire Fighter I and II; Wildland Fire Officer I and II; Wildland/Urban Interface Protection Specialist; and Wildland/Urban Interface Coordinator. You can read it for free online at NFPA's "Document Information" pages linked throughout this blog.

Do you think you can improve on the 1051 standard? Learn more about becoming a Technical Committee member at www.nfpa.org/TC. And check out the Enforcer Funding Program to see if you qualify. You can also contact Carolyn Cronin at NFPA at 617-984-7240 or ccronin@nfpa.org with any questions.

Photo courtesy Nebraska Forest Service and Nebraska Wildland Fire Academy website.

Time Flies

Boy does the time fly. For example it seems like summer just started when I hear from my son, much to his chagrin, that he starts back to school on August 30^th, 2012. I was a bit surprised to hear that the summer is almost over and that the kids are going back to school all too soon. Well not soon enough for some, I am sure.

This brings me to another point or example of how time flies by. It was way back in February of this year that we held the report on proposal (ROP) meeting for NFPA 403, Standard for Aircraft Rescue and Fire-Fighting Services at Airports and NFPA 412, Standard for Evaluating Aircraft Rescue and Fire-Fighting Foam Equipment in sunny Newport Beach, California. I bring this up as the comment closing date for these two documents is fast approaching. The final date to submit a comment on either of these two documents is August 31, 2012 and that date is coming up fast.

I am bringing this up as at the ROP meeting the committee made some proposed changes to NFPA 403 that really stirred some great debate and discussion. One of the items, for example, is a change in the response times. While there were many other proposed changes in both documents, I am not going to summarize all of them in this blog but I urge you to read the ROP for both documents and please submit a comment on any one of the proposed changes to these documents.

Please see the ROP for NFPA 403 and the ROP for NFPA 412 for a showing of all the proposed changes for which you can submit a Comment on. The committee will be meeting in San Antonio on October 23^rd and 24^th to address any public comments and to develop any committee comments, based on the ROP. You can visit either one of the doc info pages for 403 and 412 for updated information regarding the documents.

So with summer coming to a close my wife quickly reminds me just how many shopping days there are until Christmas. Does it ever end?

Stay safe and enjoy the rest of the summer, before we are buried in snow.

Ken Holland

Northeastern Regional Fire Code Development Committee meets to discuss documents under revision

Yesterday, the Northeastern Regional Fire Code Development Committee met at The Hilton Garden Inn, in Manchester, NH. 10 members and five guests attended the meeting to discuss recommendations that will be presented as public inputs and committee comments to over a dozen technical committees with documents under revision.

To encourage greater fire service participation in the NFPA Standards Making System, NFPA and IFMA has established four Regional Fire Code Development Committees. The members of these committees are from the fire service in your area, enclosed is a list of the members. These committees’ have responsibility for developing changes to NFPA Standards, reviewing the First Draft and developing comments on changes, and act as a liaison to their region’s fire service for inputting changes to NFPA Standards.

For information, contact NFPA's Steven Sawyer.

 

TC on Deployment and Organization of Fire Prevention Activities (NFPA 1730) Meets

The TC on Deployment and Organization of Fire Prevention Activities (NFPA 1730) met in Niagara Falls, Ontario Canada to continue to draft the standard.  The standards scope contains minimum requirements relating to the organization and deployment of community risk reduction program, code enforcement, plan review, fire investigation, and public education operations to the public. The TC continues to draft the standard and hope to make it available for public input early next year.  For more information go to www.nfpa.org/1730.

Steven Sawyer