National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)'s Blog, page 268

NFPA, IAFC, Kidde Fire Safety and country artist Craig Morgan partner on initiative to support U.S. volunteer fire departments in 2016

Country Music star and former first responder Craig Morgan joined representatives from NFPA, Kidde Fire Safety, the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), fire safety advocate and multi-faceted entertainer Kix Brooks and national and state fire leaders to issue a call for support of U.S. volunteer fire departments. The U.S. has more than 30,000 fire departments, and 85 percent of them are staffed solely or mainly by volunteer firefighters. These men and women protect more than 60 percent of Americans, particularly in rural communities, however, volunteers have steadily declined. The initiative recognizes current volunteers and encourages civilians to learn how...

Today in fire history: suspected arson kills twelve in a hotel fire

Twelve hotel guests died November 5, 1978, when a fire attributed to arson raced through the 120-year-old Allen Motor Inn in which a large-loss-of-life fire could have been predicted. The three-story hotel, labeled a "fire trap" by a county official, had open wooden stairs, no fire protection features except for portable fire extinguishers, and no fire alarm system. Despite recent attempts by officials to enforce safety codes, the hotel owner had been granted three separate time extensions to make repairs, and the hotel had continued in use with major fire safety violations until the November 5 fire took the lives...

Following a retirement community apartment fire, NFPA reminds you about 10 Remembering When high-rise safety tips

Timo Juurakko gives a Remembering When presentation in Maple Ridge, British Columbia Last week, a fire in a Birmingham, Ala. retirement community displaced 80 people from their high-rise apartments. Firefighters carried out residents by hand, and later discovered the body of a man on one of the building’s upper floors, who Birmingham Police say appeared to have died of natural causes. In light of this recent event, we’d like to make you aware of Remembering When, a Fire and Fall Prevention Program for Older Adults developed by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the Centers for Disease Control and...

Day two of Responder Forum addresses presumptive cancer, fire dynamics and application for firefighting tactics

First responders from the U.S. and Canada, subject matter experts and NFPA staff address fire fighter safety The second half of the inaugural NFPA Responder Forum in Indianapolis concluded in much the same way as it started – with incredible energy, camaraderie, information and passion. Day two began with three team leaders reporting back to approximately 85 Responder Forum invitees, speakers and NFPA staff members about the strategy, action and outreach efforts that will take place in the months to come to proactively address the emerging topics of robotics, civil unrest and data collection and analysis. The groups did a...

Five students injured in school lab fire in VA

Fox 5 News in Washington DC reports that a fire occurred in a chemistry lab at W.T. Woodson High School in Fairfax County, VA around 9:40 a.m. today. According to a tweet from Fairfax County Public Schools, five students were injured, including two students who were seriously burned and airlifted to the Washington Burn Center at MedStar Hospital in the District. The other three students were taken by ambulance to nearby Inova Fairfax Hospital. A teacher was also injured, but was not taken to the hospital and remained at the scene. The high school was quickly evacuated. Fire officials say...

New NFPA research underscores America's home fire problem

NFPA's recently released report, "Fire Loss in the United States During 2014," is a grim reminder of the annual losses experienced by home fires. Culling through the data, one thing is definite: home fires are still a major problem in the U.S. For instance, in 2014: there were more than 367,000 home structure fires 2,745 people died in home fires, meaning that 84 percent of the country's fire deaths that year happened at home home fires caused 11,825 injuries, or 75 percent of all civilian fire injuries property loss from home fires totaled $6.8 billion For additional data on home...

NFPA 13 changes and "THEY"

I have been travelling to trade shows for NFPA this week and found myself sitting on a runway in Orlando waiting for weather to clear in Boston. We sat on the tarmac for two hours. So what do you do for two hours on the runway without being able to get up and move around? You take out your Surface Pro and type up a blog post about semantics from one of the education sessions I attended. At one of the education sessions about fire suppression, I visibly shuddered every time the speaker referred to NFPA as "THEY." When referring...

NFPA issues errata on NFPA 13, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems

NFPA has issued the following errata on NFPA 13, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems, on October 29, 2015: NFPA 13, Errata 13-16-1, referencing Figures 16.3.1.3.1.1(A)(a) and (c) on the 2016 edition An errata is a correction issued to an NFPA Standard, published in NFPA News, Codes Online, and included in any further distribution of the document.

Drumroll please...announcing the winners of our campus fire safety contest

NFPA, The Center for Campus Fire Safety (The Center) and Campus Fire Safety for Students recently held a contest for college students to teach them about fire safety. Now, we want to announce the three winners who were chosen from the more than 100 students who participated from 31 schools nationwide! To participate, students watched a one-minute campus fire safety video and entered their name and school information into a sweepstakes where two winners were randomly selected to win a Domino’s-sponsored pizza party for 50 of their friends. The winners are: Jake Akstins, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Illinois...

Today in fire history: a dance hall fire causes the deaths of 63 people and injures 150 others

On Thursday evening, October 28, 1998, a fire occurred in a nightclub in Gothenburg, Sweden. A Halloween party was being held in the second floor hall, and it was estimated by officials that there were approximately 400 people in attendance. According to personnel from the fire brigade, one of the survivors reported that there were so many people that it was impossible to even dance because people were crowded shoulder to shoulder. The area had an occupancy rating of approximately 150 people. Once the fire was extinguished, about 20 bodies were found in a small room on the northwest end...