National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)'s Blog, page 49

State Policymaking Key to Widespread Adoption of Wildfire Mitigation and Hazard Reduction Measures

With wildfires slated to remain persistent and destructive, state governments must chart a course to risk reduction. The overwhelming nature of some recent fires, like California’s one million acre August Complex, means that course cannot simply rely on bumping up fire suppression efforts. Instead, communities in harm’s way urgently need changes to the built environment, resources for first...



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How to determine the required fire protection rating of an opening protective?

Depending on the construction type and use, buildings may be designed and constructed with fire resistance-rated walls, floors and ceilings for structural integrity as well as to prevent fire and smoke from spreading throughout the building. However, openings in these fire rated assemblies are necessary for egress, communication, security, everyday travel throughout the building, and building...



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Remembering Alan Breslau Advocate and Founder of the Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors

As the National Burn Awareness Week campaign comes to a close, we remember and honor Alan Breslau, the founder of the Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors, who passed away in New Zealand over the holidays at the age of 94.
Alan was a remarkable man, and he understood what it meant to suffer burn injuries. In 1963, when he was 37, Alan was in a plane crash while on a business trip. Of the 43 people...



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NFPA Faces of Fire/Electrical Campaign Advocates for Electrical Safety at Home and in the Workplace, the 2021 Theme of National Burn Awareness Week

Last fall, NFPA launched Faces of Fire™/Electrical, an awareness campaign created in collaboration with the Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors, that focuses on electrical hazards both at home and in the workplace.
Since its inception, electricity has made our day-to-day living easier, but with more and more devices utilizing electricity today, there is a growing potential for electrical...



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Fire Protection Research Foundation Board of Trustees Welcomes Two New Members

The Fire Protection Research Foundation, the research affiliate of NFPA, has appointed two new members to its Board of Trustees. Effective January 1, 2021, Lou Gritzo of FM Global and Peg Paul of Peg Paul Associates will serve three-year terms. The Research Foundation also announced that Rodger Reiswig from Johnson Controls and Thomas Gell from Brandforsk Sweden will serve a second round of...



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Latest NFPA Podcast Introduces Doctor Team Dedicated to the Research and Care of Patients with Electrical Injuries

As electrical professionals, I think we have all, at one point in our career, heard the somewhat tongue-in-cheek warning about electrical hazards that goes something along the lines of, “Warning: Electricity hurts and it hurts the whole time you are dying!” I use the phrase, “somewhat tongue-in-cheek” because many of the images floating around on various social media channels tend to post this as...



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Electrical Safety the Focus of National Burn Awareness Week: NFPA Explains the All-Important Safety Relationship Between Energized Work, 70E, and OSHA

This week, February 7 – 13, marks National Burn Awareness Week, an annual event sponsored by the American Burn Association. This year’s focus is on raising awareness about being safe around electrical hazards. In fact, the theme is, “Electrical Safety from Amps to Zap (A to Z)!” While it probably comes as no surprise that NFPA promotes #NBAW since helping to eliminate loss of life and injury from...



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Despite improvement, home fires involving heating equipment remain a concern

A newly-released NFPA report estimates that home heating equipment was responsible for just over 48,500 home fires each year between 2014 and 2018, and that these fires caused an estimated 500 civilian deaths, 1,350 civilian injuries, and $1.1 billion in direct property damage each year.
Home fires caused by heating equipment most often involved space heaters, which accounted for just over two in...



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Smoke Control Systems

Studies have shown that most fire deaths are not caused by burns at all but instead by smoke inhalation. Smoke can be quite hazardous, and its effects stretch far beyond just being toxic. Smoke obstructs light and limits occupant visibility. This in turn diminishes travel speed so it takes longer for occupants to get to safety. Smoke can also be very hot, burning the interior of your lungs....



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CRR in Action: 3 Questions with Patrick Corran, the Community Risk Educator for La Crosse Fire Department

Community Risk Reduction (CRR) is a process to identify and prioritize local risks, followed by the integrated and strategic investment of resources to reduce their occurrence and impact. This process has been gaining traction in fire departments around the world as a tool to enhance efforts to increase the safety of residents, visitors, and first responders. But what does it look like in...



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