National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)'s Blog, page 270

Featured presentation highlights lessons learned from South Carolina's most destructive wildfire: the Highway 31 Fire

In April 2009, the most destructive wildfire in South Carolina history burned almost 20,000 acres adjacent to Myrtle Beach. This "Highway 31 fire" as it was coined, was the topic of featured presenter Darryl Jones' session at Backyards & Beyond today. The fire exhibited extreme fire behavior, long-range spotting, and resulted in two entrapments. The initial fire destroyed 76 homes and significantly damaged 97 additional homes in a 28 hour period. Major highways into the Myrtle Beach area were closed, schools shut down and tourism was interrupted during peak travel season. Darryl detailed the efforts to control the fire, manage...

Sprinkler advocacy at its best: NFPA and HFSC honor fire chief for his relentless support of home fire sprinklers

NFPA's Fire Sprinkler Initiative and the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition (HFSC) awarded Fire Chief Brian Leahy from the Clarendon Hills, Illinois, Fire Department with the 2015 Bringing Safety Home Award, presented at the Fire Sprinkler Initiative Summit in Phoenix, Arizona. The award recognizes fire service members and other safety advocates who use HFSC's home fire sprinkler educational materials and Fire Sprinkler Initiative resources to ensure that decision-makers have accurate information as new or updated home fire sprinkler codes are considered. Fifteen years ago, Chief Leahy spent hours meeting with his mayor and elected officials to educate them about the benefits...

NFPA President Jim Pauley opens 2015 Backyards & Beyond Wildfire Conference

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is the gracious host of the 2015 Backyards & Beyond Wildland Education Conference, and this morning Jim Pauley, NFPA's President, opened the conference with his remarks. We are currently living through severe drought conditions and rising temperatures that are transforming a region's typical wildfire season into a year-round problem, Jim began by explaining. According to NIFC, so far in 2015, more than 50,000 fires have burned more than 9 million acres, more than three times the amount of land burned in the same period of 2014: a staggering statistic that shows how much work we all...

Three NFPA certifications now provide Pro Board accreditation

Great news for candidates who successfully complete the NFPA process for the Certified Fire Inspector I (CFI-I), Certified Fire Inspector II (CFI-II), or the Certified Fire Plan Examiner (CFPE) certifications: They'll now be automatically registered with the Pro Board and receive an NFPA certificate bearing the Pro Board logo. “Our customers have been asking for Pro Board recognition of these three certifications for several years,” said Leon Katcharian, NFPA’s director of NFPA certifications. “We heard those requests and have worked diligently with the Pro Board team to meet their high accreditation standards.” Groups or individuals that achieve Pro Board accreditation...

Smart Homes Summit in Palo Alto aims to enlist more technology to solve the fire problem

“You can’t be in a better place for thinking about the future than Palo Alto,” City Manager James Keene said today as he kicked-off proceedings of the first ever Smart Homes Summit this morning at the Mitchell Park Community Center in the heart of Silicon Valley, California. Pondering the high tech future of the fire service is the aim of the summit, hosted by the Fire Protection Research Foundation. Gathered are more than 80 participants spanning the fire service, technology professionals, data analytics experts, and others, including a slate of more than 30 speakers over a day and a half....

Minnesota court overturns sprinkler requirement same week home fire kills father and two children

Delivering a blow to Minnesota's fire safety advocates, the state's Court of Appeals recently overturned a ruling by the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry to sprinkler all new, one- and two-family homes greater than 4,500 square feet. Sued by the Builders Association of the Twin Cities, the department saw the sprinkler requirement as a necessity, telling NFPA in 2014 that the the cost of installing sprinklers isn't significant enough to discourage someone from purchasing a home, particularly when weighing the cost against the potential threat to life and property. For more on this court decision, visit NFPA's Fire Sprinkler...

Today in fire history: major wildland urban interface fire kills 25 and injures 150 people

A devastating conflagration occurred in the scenic hills above the cities of Oakland and Berkeley, California, on October 20, 1991. Burning embers carried by high winds from the perimeter of a small but growing duff fire ignited overgrown vegetation and led to the further ignition of tree crowns and combustible construction materials of adjacent homes, including many with wood-shingle roofs. The result was a major wildland/urban interface fire that killed 25 people including a police officer and a fire fighter, injured 150 others, destroyed nearly 2,449 single-family dwellings and 437 apartment and condominium units, burned over 1,660 acres, and did...

Comments sought on proposed Tentative Interim Amendment to NFPA 52, Vehicular Gaseous Fuel Systems Code

The following proposed Tentative Interim Amendment (TIA) for NFPA 52, Vehicular Gaseous Fuel Systems Code, is being published for public review and comment: NFPA 52, proposed TIA No. 1203, referencing 15.2.11.1.3 on the proposed 2016 edition Anyone may submit a comment on this proposed TIA by the December 18, 2015 closing date. Along with your comment, please identify the number of the TIA and forward to the Secretary, Standards Council by the closing date.

In October's issue of Fire Break newsletter: wildfire funding awards, renewal process info, insurance discounts & more

The October issue of Fire Break, NFPA’s Wildland Fire Operations Division newsletter, is now available for viewing. Here’s what you’ll find in this month’s issue: An update on the Firewise community renewal process Information on wildfire funding awards for youth A link to the pet safety component of our TakeAction campaign The latest news from USAA regarding insurance discounts for Firewise communities in Colorado and Texas, and California ...and much more. We want to continue to share all of this great information with you, so don’t miss an issue! So subscribe today. It’s free! Just click here to add your...

NFPA's spooky Halloween fire safety tips highlighted on Martha Stewart

As I have mentioned in past posts, NFPA has been working with the folks at Martha Stewart Living to provide important fire safety tips for all of the projects and activities we do at home and with our families. And now, we're excited to share our newest post with you! If you're like me, you probably can't even believe we're talking about Halloween (wasn't it just summer??) but it's just around the corner. So, you'll want to check out our latest "creepy crawl-y" Halloween fire safety tips on Martha's site.​ There are some great ideas for costumes, decorations and candles...