NEWS IN BRIEF
U.S. firefighter deaths decline
One hundred U.S. firefighters died while on duty during 1991.* This figure represents a drop of 5.7 percent from 1990, according to the National l ire Protection Association.
The NFPA breaks down the statistics related to the deaths as follows:
- Career (paid) municipal firefighters: 34.
- Volunteer municipal firefighters: 60.
- Nonmunicipal firefighters (i.e., federal or state forestry firefighters): 6.
Fifty deaths occurred on the llreground, and 21 were due to heart attacks. Of the 25 deaths that occurred while responding to or returning from alarms, 12 were attributed to heart attacks and 1 1 to vehicle collisions or falls from apparatus.
Fourteen deaths occurred during training: seven due to heart attacks, one, to a stroke; three, to collisions; one. to a fall from apparatus; one, to a falling chimney; and one, to failure of a parachute to open while jumper training.
Heart attacks claimed a total of 50 lives; internal trauma, 2-t; asphyxiation and burns, 10 each; crushing injuries, five; strokes, two; pneumonia. one; electrocution, one; and lightning. one.
Seventeen of the 50 foreground deaths occurred in residential properties. while eight deaths occurred at wildland fires.
*Notc: The 1991 NFPA firefighter fatality report does not include four on-duty deaths that occurred in late December. There actually were 10 t firefighter on-duty deaths in 1991, representing a decline of less than two percent.
New York’s Emergency Service Loan Bill amended
Recent amendments proposed by Governor Mario M. Cuomo to legislation he proposed and submitted to the New York State Legislature earlier this year would permit fire departments in the state to borrow up to 75 percent of the cost of equipment at two percent interest.
In addition, it has been proposed that an Emergency Services Loan Review’ Board be created to review loan applications and award the loans. The board would be chaired by the Secretary of State and comprised of representatives of the fire service and state officials. The revolving loan program would be administered by the Department of State’s Office of Fire Prevention and Control.
“The legislation,” Governor Cuomo says, “wall be of particular assistance to smaller, upstate rural fire departments who have been hard-pressed to purchase needed emergency services equipment.”
The original proposal would have financed 50 percent of purchases at a higher interest rate.
Members of the fire service in the state of New York in favor of this legislation are urged to contact their legislators to ask for their support of the measure. For more information, call the press office of the State of New York Executive Chamber at (518) 474-8418 or (212) 417-2126.
Arson rise in Northeast attributed to weak economy
Suspicious fires involving houses, businesses, cars, and boats have been climbing in the Northeast, especially in the states of New York and New Jersey, during the past couple of years. Insurance adjusters and investigators attribute the rise in arson to the weak economy. In addition, according to a spokesperson for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, members of street gangs and drug rings are using firebombs and explosives as weapons of intimidation in this region, as they have been doing worldwide during the past three years.
At the same time, local fire departments are being forced to reduce investigative functions because of budgetary problems stemming from the fallen economy. Experts agree that the incidence of arson is much greater than the statistics indicate, since many arson-caused fires are not included in the figures because they have not been investigated at all.
Urban fire leaders meet
Fire chiefs and other leaders from 15 American cities met recently at U.S. Fire Administration headquarters to discuss and compare experiences relative to fighting fires under adverse conditions, specifically during the urban riots and fires occurring throughout the nation this past spring.
Safety of firefighters operating under such conditions was the topic of primary concern, reports Olin Green, USFA administrator. He proposed that strategies that include “early coordination with police and other service units of a city government and early involvement of the news media” be formulated. A formal report of the proceedings of the meeting will be published in a few’ months.
Attending the meeting were Chief Mike Freeman, Los Angeles County; Chief Donald O. Manning, Los Angeles City; Chief Chris A. Hunter, Long Beach; Chief Frederick F. Hostel, San Francisco; and Chief George K. George, San Diego—all from California. Also present were Deputy Chief Michael Dalton, City of Baltimore, Maryland; Chief David Chamberlain, Atlanta, Georgia; Chief William Austin, Tampa, Florida; Chief Clell West, Las Vegas, Nevada; Chief Claude Harris, Seattle, Washington; Chief George Monogue, Portland, Oregon; Chief Ravfield Alfred, District of Columbia; Chief Neil Svetanics, St. Louis, Missouri; Chief Richard Gonzales, Denver, Colorado; and Chief Harry Diezel, Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Need for fire protection engineers
Delegates representing 13 universities in Australia. Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, the United States. Russia, and Japan met at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in June for the Third International Symposium on Higher Fire Technical Education. The event was funded by grants from Rolf Jensen & Associates and the Society of Fire Protection Engineers Educational and Scientific Foundation.
Attendees reviewed the status of technical fire programs in higher education worldwide, initiated plans to create the International Conference for Firesafety Engineering Education, and appointed a temporary management team. They concluded that the body of science related to fire is growing and that new engineering methods are emerging at an accelerated rate; that young men and women must be inspired to pursue fire engineering careers in the public and private sectors; that the need for fire protection engineers is growing; and that international standards for curricula and professional qualifications are needed.
VFIS offers safety forum paper
The Volunteer Firemen’s Insurance Services, Inc. and the Congressional Fire Services Institute cosponsored a teleconference on “Firefighter Health and Safety: A Report to Congress” in May. The teleconference focused on a White Paper report on current first responder health and safety issues highlighted at the National Firefighter Health and Safety Forum, sponsored by the CFS1 and held October 14 and IS. 1991 The forum was funded by a Foundation for the Health and Safety of American Firefighters grant. The hite Paper report was presented to Congress on March S.
flic purpose of the teleconference was to inform fire and emergency service organizations of the contents of the W hite Paper. Participants in the teleconference included Dee Armstrong. Women in the Fire Service; Dr. Paul Davis, ARA/Human Factors; Fred “Wes” Dolezal, Chesterfield County (VA) Fire Department; Roger McGary, Silver Spring (MD) Volunteer FireDepartment; Greg Noll, Hildebrand & Noll Associates; Gordon Sachs, U.S. Fire Administration; Philip Stittleburg, National Volunteer Fire Council Foundation; Congressman Steny Moyer (MD); and Don Conley, Volunteer Firemen’s Insurance Services, Inc. The conference was moderated by John McNichol of the Congressional Fire Services Institute.
A tape of the two-hour teleconference is available for S25, including shipping. For additional information, contact Tamela Monroe, VFIS, P.O. Box 2726, York, PA 17405, (800) 233-1957.
NRC’s NFL adopts strategic plan
The National Fire Laboratory of the National Research Council Canada has developed a five-year strategicplan, based on the findings of a blue ribbon panel chaired by Jonathan Rubes of Leber/Rubes Inc.
The panel studied Canada’s fire research needs for the next five to 10 years and has recommended that the plan cover research in three project areas: fire safety in rehabilitation, fire safety technologies for code development, and cost-effective fire safety. Plan objectives include widely disseminating the resulting technological findings and continuing to support the National Building and Fire Codecommittees and the standards they reference.
Junior Firefighter contest winners
Charlotte (NC) Fire Department Explorer Post #244; North Greece Fire Department Explorer Post #702, Rochester, NY; and Plano (TX) FireDepartment Explorer Post #215 won first, second, and third places, respectively, in the 1991 Junior Firefighting Excellence Award Contest sponsored by Volunteer Firemen’s Insurance Services, Inc.
Information about and applications for competing in the 1992 Junior Firefighter Excellence Award Contest are available from Tamela Monroe, VFIS, P.O. Box 2726, York, PA 17405, (800) 233-1957. Deadline is December 1, 1992; top prize is S 1,000.
