NEWS IN BRIEF

NEWS IN BRIEF

NFPA 1500 TIA approved

The tentative interim amendment (TIA) to 1-5, 6-4.1.1, and A-6-4.1.1 of the 1992 edition of NFPA 1500, Standard on Fire Department Occupational Safety and Health, proposed by the Technical Committee on Fire Service Occupational Safety and Health, was accepted by the Standards Council of the National Fire Protection Association at its meeting in July.

The TIA, according to the NFPA, “establishes that four firefighters are to be assembled on the fireground prior to conducting interior firefighting operations at a working structural fire.” It provides for an exception “in rare and extraordinary circumstances where immediate action may be required to prevent the loss of life or serious injury,” in which case operations could begin with fewer than four individuals on the scene.

Working structural fire is defined in Section 1-5 as “any fire that requires the use of a 1 ‘/a-inch or larger fire attack hoseline and that also requires the use of self-contained breathing apparatus for members entering the hazardous area.”

According to Section A-6-4.1.1, the four members for the initial fire attack may be assembled in “many ways.” The procedure for assembling members should be determined by the fire department’s response plan.

Members arriving at the scene of a working structural fire before four crew members are present may initiate exterior actions to prepare for an interior attack, including, but not limited to, establishing a water supply, shutting off utilities, placing ladders, laying the attack line to the structure’s entrance, and protecting exposures.

Firefighters contemplating entering a structure because of an imminent life-threatening situation requiring immediate action to prevent the loss of life or serious injury before four personnel are on the scene “should carefully evaluate the level of risk they would be exposed to by taking such action.” If such action is taken, incoming companies should be notified so that they will be prepared to provide necessary support and backup on arrival. “Such action is intended to apply only to those rare and extraordinary‘ circumstances when, in the members’ professional judgment, the specific instance recpiires immediate action to prevent the loss of life or serious injury and four persons have not yet arrived on the fireground. ”

To obtain a copy of the TIA, contact the NFPA at (800) 344-3555.

NFPA reports an increase in U.S. fire fatalities for 1992

Nonfirefighter fire fatalities in the United States were up six percent in 1992, representing 265 more deaths than in 1991, reports the National Fire Protection Association. In announcing the statistic, NFPA President George D. Miller noted, “While it is disappointing to have to report an increase in fire deaths, we must not lose sight of the very encouraging downward trend of the last few years.” In the 1980s, he explains, fire deaths hovered around 6,000 per year, and the 1992 total of 4,730 deaths is more than 20 percent below that level.

“The key to lowering the nation’s fire death toll,” stresses Michael J. Karter, Jr., NFPA senior statistician and author of the annual report, “continues to lie in home fire safety basics, from fire prevention education to smoke detector and automatic fire sprinkler installation and maintenance to even safer products for the home.”

Among other findings of the annual report were the following:

• A fire department responded to a fire every 16 seconds.
• A residential fire occurred every 67 seconds.
• A fire death occurred every 111 minutes.
• A civilian fire injury occurred every 18 minutes.
• Public fire departments responded to an estimated 1,964,500 fires, a 3 8 percent decrease from 1991.
• The highest death rate was in the South.
• Fire injuries in 1992 were down 2.3 percent from 1991; an estimated 28,700 civilians were injured, a little more than 75 percent of them in residential properties.
• An estimated S8.3 billion was incurred in direct property damage, including S567,371,476 resulting from the April 1992 Los Angeles civil disturbance. Nearly 84 percent of all 1992 property damage occurred in structure fires, 47 percent of them in residential properties.
• The West suffered the highest property loss rate, S35.3 per person.
• Incendiary and suspicious structure fires dropped by four percent. They represented 14.7 percent of all 1992 structure fires.
• Incendiary or suspicious vehicle fires for 1992 (405,000) represented a decrease of 10.2 percent from the previous year.
• For more information, contact Julie Reynolds at the NFPA at (617) 9847274.

National Arson Prevention Act of ’93 (H.R. 1727) moving toward full House

Following its markup by the House of Representatives’ Science, Space and Technology Committee, the Arson Prevention Act of 1993 (H R. 1727) is moving toward the full membership of the House for consideration. The bill’s sponsor, Congressman Rick Boucher (I)-VA), reports it is “the top legislative priority of the year for the fire service.”

NEWS IN BRIEF

An amendment attached to the proposed legislation in an earlier committee hearing by Congressman Robert Walker (R-PA) requiring that states and localities have cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training to qualify for grants provided by the bill (see News in Brief, August 1993, page 24, and September 1993, page 18) was replaced with an amendment from Rep. Walker relaxing the CPR requirements.

Among other amendments offered to the bill were the following:

• Rep. William Baker (R-CA) proposed that the U.S. Fire Administration conduct the Arson Prevention Act programs with funds in its existing budget. After extensive debate, the Committee rejected the amendment. In its present form, the additional funding would be given to the USFA for arson grants and training specified in the proposed bill; the proposed bill would authorize 57 million over the next two years.
• Rep. Boucher proposed the inclusion of a “sunset” clause that would discontinue the programs in the Act after fiscal year 1995 unless reauthorized by Congress. It was unanimously approved.
• Congressman James Traficant (D-
• OH) proposed that grant recipients be “encouraged” to purchase American-made equipment and products. It was unanimously approved.

A companion bill (S. 798) was introduced in the Senate by Congressional Fire Services Caucus Cochairperson Richard Bryan (D-NE). No action was taken.

For more information, contact Michael Smith, the Congressional Fire Services Institute, at (202) 371-1277.

Year-end congressional report

In his year-end report for 1992, Congressman Curt Weldon (R-PA) included the following summary of activities related to the fire and emergency services:

• The Benjamin Franklin Fire Service Bill of Rights (H.R. 2448) directing that a silver medal be minted and the proceeds from its sale be used to fund major fire service programs. Introduced by Weldon in the House, it was signed into law by President Bush.
• National Disaster Preparedness. The Bush Administration discontinued funding for a national network of 15 urban search and rescue (US&R) task forces, including funding for a grant awarded to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the purpose of establishing a US&R task force. Weldon intervened with the chairperson of the Appropriations Subcommittee on VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies on behalf of the other US&R supporters. Congress added S 500,000 to continue the task forces for fiscal

year ’93.

• Pipeline Safety Act. Passed by Congress on Oct. 5, 1992, it requires the Department of Transportation to specify when excess flow valves (EFVs) must be installed in gas lines, thus preventing a gas leak from causing an explosion by automatically shutting off the line.
• Fire Safety Act. Weldon was one of the three principal sponsors of this legislation, signed into law last October, which requires the use of automatic sprinklers, or an equivalent level of fire safety, in federal employee office buildings and housing.
• National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Foundation Act, signed into law, creates a nonprofit organization to pay the expenses of families of fallen firefighters to attend the annual ceremony at the U.S. Fire Academy.
• Fire Safety Hearing. As a member of the Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families, Weldon was instrumental in effecting a hearing (Aug. 11, 1992) highlighting the need for every family to ensure its safety in case of a fire. The focus of the hearing was to survey the efforts being made across the country to educate families and children on fire safety.

Select Committee on Disaster Preparedness and Response. Weldon and Rep. Rob Andrews (I)-NJ) introduced H. Res. 465 in October 1992, which would establish a committee for the primary purpose of publishing a report detailing the proper role of the federal government in response to natural and man-made disasters.

• The National Arson Prevention Act of ’93, cosponsored by Weldon, has been moving through the legislative process. (See related item in this section.)

Arson forum issues recommendations

A committee consisting of 31 arson experts, representing various perspectives, met at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland, last January. The members, divided into five “working groups,” focused on the following areas: prevention, training, statistics, management, and investigation/prosecution.

Among the goals established by the committee were the following:

• to reduce the incidence of arson in the United States;
• to use resources more efficiently and improve the quality of arson control activities through improved coordination and cooperation among federal, state, and local agencies involved in arson control;
• to improve the quality of arson control unit management as a means of improving the quality and efficiency of units;
• to establish and exceed standards for all personnel involved in arson investigation and prosecution;
• to increase public involvement in arson prevention and assistance with arson investigation;
• to present an accurate, timely, and consistent statistical view of the U.S. arson problem; and
• to encourage public officials to establish arson control as a resource priority and to promote interagency cooperation.

For a copy of the report, contact the U.S Fire Administration at (800) 238-3358.

FIMA offers wildfire publication

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has prepared “Wildfire—Are You Prepared?” a four-page brochure (Publication L-203) explaining how homeowners can prepare for wildfires and mitigate their effects. More than 13,000 single copies have been distributed to the emergency management and fire services communities and to national volunteer organizations active in disaster response.

The brochure is available through the FEMA Printing and Publications ordering system by submitting FEMA Form 60-8 or a written request to FEMA, P.O. Box 70274, Washington, DC 20024. For orders of more than 500, FEMA recommends that the copies be printed locally using camera-ready masters available on loan from FEMA. Space has been provided on the brochure for a logo or a credit announcement for a sponsor.

Other camera-ready materials available through FEMA include the “Emergency Preparedness Checklist” (L-154); “Your Family Disaster Supplies Kit” (L-189; L-189 S in Spanish); “Your Family Disaster Plan” (L-191; L191 S in Spanish); “Helping Children Cope with Disaster” (L-196); and “Emergency Food and Water Supplies” (FEMA-215). They may be borrowed from the Family Protection Manager, Dr. Wayne Blanchard; c/o FEMA, Room 602, 500 C Street, SW; Washington, DC 20472. A specifications sheet, to guide the printer, accompanies the camera-ready materials.

Government to develop software for estimating earthquake damages

The National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are cosponsoring a project for developing software to be used in estimating earthquake damages, casualties, and business losses. The work is expected to be completed within three years, and the project’s cost is S3 million.

Before the software is released, the NIBS plans to conduct workshops with public officials to review the software and make any necessary revisions. Philip J. Schneider, director of the study for the NIBS, says the cost of the software, which will be made available to state and local officials, will be “affordable.”

Source: Engineering News Record, Aug. 2, 1993, p. 12.