University of California (UC) Berkeley scientists have designed the FUEGO (Fire Urgency Estimator in Geosynchronous Orbit) satellite, which, it says, can spot fires before they grow into large wildfires. The satellite, which uses state-of-the-art sensors and written analysis software to minimize false alarms, “could view the Western states almost continuously, snapping pictures of the ground every few seconds in search of hot spots that could be newly ignited wildfires.” According to Fire Expert Scott Stephens, a UC Berkeley associate professor of environmental science, policy and management, “Wildfires would be smaller in scale if you could detect them before they got too big, like less than an acre.”
It is anticipated that wildfires will become more frequent and more extensive. Yet, detection methods in some ways are similar to those used 200 years ago. Stephens noted that detection relies primarily on spotters in fire towers or on the ground and on members of the public and has been supplemented by aerial reconnaissance and lightning detectors.
Carl Pennypacker, a research associate at UC Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory and scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, estimates that it is possible for government or industry to build and operate a fire detection satellite as efficient as the FUEGO for several hundred million dollars. The nation’s annual budget for fighting wildfire, he points out, is $2.5 billion.
Pennypacker has been designing sensitive detectors for satellites for 40 years. He says the project needs additional testing, but it has been shown that this kind of rapid, sensitive fire detection of areas bigger than 10 feet on a side is probably feasible from space, and we have evidence that the false alarm rate will not be crazy.
The FUEGO design, for which UC Berkeley has filed a patent, was developed with funds from the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research.
Additional authors of the paper that describes the FUEGO include Maggi Kelly, remote sensing expert and professor, environmental science, policy and management department at UC Berkeley; Michael Lampton, a research physicist at the UC Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory; Robert Tripp, UC Berkeley professor emeritus of physics; and Christopher Schmidt of the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The paper was published online Oct. 17 by the journal Remote Sensing.
Additional information is available from Pennypacker (510) 486-7429; Kelly, (510) 642-7272; or Stephens, (510) 642-7304.
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October 2. Captain Richard Floersch, 58, Milan (TN) Fire Department: heart attack. October 14. Captain David Heath, 48, New Hanover County Fire Rescue, Wilmington, NC: apparent cardiac event. October 14. Chief John Allison, 51, Mason County Rural Fire Authority, Custer (MI) Fire Department: heart attack suffered on October 7. October 17. Firefighter Jantzen Murrell Frazier, 28, Oden Ridge Fire and Rescue, Eva, AL: Vehicle accident while responding to an incident. October 20. Firefighter Leroy Murphy Jr., 56, Gettysburg (OH) Fire Department: embolism. October 27. Lieutenant Arlie Hill III, 37, Whitley City (KY) Fire Department: burns suffered in a residential fire on August 30. November 2. Firefighter Blaine E. Wildnauer Jr., 58, Fox Township Volunteer Fire Department, Kersey, PA: apparent heart attack. November 5. Lieutenant James Michael Hill, 52, Sycamore Township Fire & EMS Department, Cincinnati, OH: sudden cardiac arrest. November 7. Fire Police Captain David Roland Barr Jr., 58, Community Fire Company, Perryville, Maryland: injuries sustained when struck by a car. November 11. Lieutenant James C. Goodman Jr., 52, Nedrow (NY) Volunteer Fire Department: cause not officially reported; found unresponsive in exercise room at firehouse. Source: USFA Firefighter Memorial Database |
NFPA offers revised safety program for older adults
The National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) new version of Remembering When™: A Fire and Fall Prevention Program for Older Adults is available for download at no cost at http://www.nfpa.org/rememberingwhen. The revised program provides updated fire and fall statistics, safety messaging, trivia, and artwork. The human models used are younger than those in the previous version.
The foundation of the program-16 key safety messages (eight fire prevention and eight fall prevention) developed by experts from national and local safety organizations and tested by focus groups in high-fire-risk states-is unchanged. Fire departments generally distribute the information through group presentations, through home visits, and as part of smoke alarm installation and fall intervention programs.
Representatives of fire departments and home visit agencies across the United States and Canada chosen to participate in the Remembering When conference December 1-3, 2013, in Boston will be the first groups trained in the use of the updated materials. Although training for fire and life safety educators will be available at the annual NFPA Remembering When conference and at a variety of state and regional venues, it is not necessary to receive training to use the program. Tools and support materials are readily available on the Web site.
Nearly 70K U.S. firefighters injured in the line of duty in 2012
Firefighter line-of-duty injuries have declined over the past three decades, hovering around roughly 100,000 from the early 1980s through early 1990s, according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) U.S. Firefighter Injury Report. In 2012, there were 69,400 firefighter injuries in the line of duty. The data were collected from fire departments responding to the 2012 National Fire Experience Survey.
In 2012, 31,490 injuries occurred during fireground operations; they included overexertion and straining (27.5 percent) and falling, slipping, and jumping (23.2 percent). The number of fireground injuries per 100 fires was highest in the Northeast than in other regions of the country. Other fireground injuries included strains, sprains, and muscular pain (55.2 percent); wounds, cuts, bleeding, and bruising (12.2 percent); thermal stress (5.8 percent); and burns (5.7 percent)
Injuries during other on-duty activities (13,820) were caused while responding to or returning from an incident (4,190), training activities (7,140), and nonfire emergency incidents (12,760); close to 60 percent of the injuries that occurred during nonfire emergency incidents were strains, sprains, and muscular pains. In addition to injuries, there were 8,150 exposures to infectious diseases and 19,200 exposures to hazardous conditions.
9/11 first responders found to have higher prevalence of kidney damage
Research presented at the American Society of Nephrology Kidney Week 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia, reveals that exposure to high levels of particulate matter causes significant damage to first responders’ kidneys.
The study participants were 183 consecutively enrolled first responders from the WTC–CHEST Program, a subset of the World Trade Center Clinical Center of Excellence. They were evaluated by investigators, who calculated an exposure score based on information available on the subjects’ proximity to Ground Zero, time of arrival, and duration of exposure. Participants with the highest exposure to particulate matter had significantly worse kidney function than those with low exposure.
Lead author of the study Mary Ann McLaughlin, MD (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai), reported: “We observed a statistically significant independent relationship of high exposure to particulate matter with albuminuria in this cohort after controlling for pertinent risk factors. This novel finding paves the way for future studies of environmental exposures and inflammation in the pathogenesis of albuminuria” (http://www.science20.com/print/124171). Additional information on the danger of particulates for first responders and discussions on why they should wear their self-contained breathing apparatus in environments that may contain contaminants is at http://www.fireengineering.com/articles/2012/05/fire-smoke-coalition-forms-official-partnership-with-firefighter-cancer-support-network.html and http://www.fireengineering.com/articles/2011/05/may-roundtable-scba.htm.
Accreditation organizations join DHS S&T compliance assessment program
The American Association for Laboratory Accreditation, ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board, and International Accreditation New Zealand have joined the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) laboratory accreditation efforts. They will participate in S&T’s Project 25 Compliance Assessment Program (P25 CAP), which verifies that emergency response communications equipment meet required standards.
“We look forward to working with these accreditation organizations to ensure public safety agencies can tell which P25 equipment is genuinely interoperable,” explains David Boyd, director of S&T’s Office for Interoperability and Compatibility. His office is responsible for developing standards for ensuring that radios and other equipment are interoperable regardless of the manufacturer so that first responders across disciplines and jurisdictions can maintain seamless critical communications.
Previously, P25 CAP laboratories were accredited by the U.S. Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). DHS and NIST will work with the accreditation organizations. Additional information on P25 CAP and other S&T initiatives is at www.firstresponder.gov.
Fire Engineering Archives