National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)'s Blog, page 275

NFPA & ICC work together to publish new 2015 International Solar Energy Provisions & Commentary publication

The International Code Council (ICC), NFPA, and ICC’s Solar Rating & Certification Corporation (ICC-SRCC) collaborated to publish the 2015 International Solar Energy Provisions and Commentary. Working together, we hoped for a helpful resource, as this new publication is the first of its kind to include solar energy code-related provisions, commentary and selected standards in a single, comprehensive place. The book contains the complete solar energy-related provisions from the 2015 International Codes with corresponding commentary, plus NFPA 70: 2014 NEC National Electrical Code provisions related to solar energy and three important referenced standards from ICC-SRCC: ICC-SRCC Standard 100 (Minimum Standards for...

Comments sought on proposed Tentative Interim Amendment to NFPA 20

The following proposed Tentative Interim Amendment (TIA) for NFPA 20, Standard for the Installation of Stationary Pumps for Fire Protection, is being published for public review and comment: NFPA 20, proposed TIA No. 1199, referencing 10.8.2.2 on the 2016 edition Anyone may submit a comment on this proposed TIA by the November 20, 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 September issue of Safety Source: Sparky's new trivia app, new fire safety tip sheet for pets & more

The September issue of Safety Source, NFPA's public education enewsletter, is now available for viewing. In this issue, you will find; Sparky’s Brain Busters, a free trivia–based app launched for Fire Prevention Week New video featuring Casey Grant, Lessons from History: The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 Tip sheet highlights pets and fire safety Lab safety tip sheet for teachers and students NFPA’s educator web site gets redesign for Fire Prevention Week Sparky hits the streets to find out about smoke alarms Don't miss an issue! Sign up now and be the first to get the latest information on happenings...

Historic Fires: Paris, Texas 1916

In the Library, we get many requests for information about historic fires. Recently we were asked to research the 1916 conflagration at Paris, Texas. Paris, Texas is located about 100 miles north east of Dallas. In 1916, it is estimated that the population was about 15,500. The city was a local trading center, and as such had a larger business district than other cities of similar size and population. The business district was closely built-up but the residential portions of the city were less so. However practically all the homes had shingle roofs. No rain had fallen in Paris for...

How clean is clean? Research Foundation receives AFG funding to find out

Between fighting fires and responding to other emergencies, fire fighter personal protective equipment (PPE) is exposed to a wide range of toxic chemicals, biological pathogens and other hazardous substances. It’s well recognized that these contaminant exposures can pose significant risks to fire fighters’ immediate and long-term health, with cancer topping the list of concerns. However, knowing if current or new cleaning procedures adequately remove contaminants from PPE has yet to be fully determined. Meanwhile, incidents like the Ebola outbreak have reinforced that we also don’t know what it scientifically takes to remove air- and blood-borne pathogens that first responders come...

NFPA thanks FM Global for sponsoring our Backyards & Beyond Wildfire Education Conference

Thank you FM Global for participating in the 2015 NFPA Backyards & Beyond sponsorship program! We appreciate your continued support. For 175 years, many of the world’s largest organizations have turned to FM Global to develop cost-effective property insurance and engineering solutions to protect their business operations from fire, natural disasters and other types of property risk. FM Global ranks #545 among FORTUNE magazine’s largest companies in America and is rated A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best and AA (Very Strong) by Fitch Ratings. The company has been named “Best Property Insurer in the World" by Euromoney magazine and “Best Global...

The never ending Centralia coal mine fire is highlighted in 'Looking Back' in the all new NFPA Journal

The Looking Back feature in the new September/October NFPA Journal didn’t have to look back too far to highlight the Centralia, Pennsylvania, coal mine fire. It’s actually still burning today, after more than 50 years. The fire started at the Centralia town dump in May 1962, where burning trash lit an exposed coal seam at the mouth of a mine. For several years, the residents of Centralia didn’t seem to mind the fire burning beneath them. Many no longer had to shovel snow; some could even grow tomatoes year-round in the warm ground. But the honeymoon ended when residents began...

The new issue of NFPA Journal discusses two proposals for the 2017 NEC

While NFPA 70E®, Electrical Safety in the Workplace®, is the standard for safe work practices, numerous installation requirements in NFPA 70®, National Electrical Code® (NEC®), provide the means to implement those practices. A number of proposed changes to the 2017 NEC that target the installer and maintainer community are part of an ongoing effort to promote safe work practices through installation rules. One of them calls for the provision of warning label at service equipment to provide the nominal system voltage and the arc-flash boundary, while the other expands the working space requirements for equipment rated 1,000 volts and less...

NFPA, Research Foundation and NIOSH sign MOU at NFPA headquarters

From left to right: Director Dr. John Howard, President Jim Pauley and Executive Director Casey Grant sign MOU between NIOSH, NFPA and the Fire Protection Research Foundation, respectively The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the Fire Protection Research Foundation (Research Foundation) - the research affiliate of NFPA, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today at NFPA headquarters in Quincy, MA. The signing represents the third agreement between the two organizations and an alliance that began some 10 years ago. The MOU, which was signed by Jim Pauley, NFPA president, Casey...

The new issue of NFPA Journal looks at the changing face of fire museums

Traditionally, fire museums in the United States and Canada have been operated by firefighters and fire buffs without museum backgrounds, but this is fast changing, says Lisa Braxton, associate project manager in NFPA’s Public Education Division. Nowadays, fire museums offer multi-sensory learning experiences, emerging as valuable educational tools that weave fire safety education into the museum experience. In an effort to maintain their relevance to contemporary audiences, many fire museums now try to immerse museum visitors in the firefighter experience by including interactive displays and organizing their collections of artifacts accordingly. They are developing membership programs and pursuing grants. At...