Firefighters employed at Alameda Naval Station exposed to haz mats
The United States Navy failed to protect firefighters against hazardous materials while employed at the Naval Air Station in Alameda, California, according to the United States Office of Special Council (OSC). The firefighters working at the base, which was closed in 1997, were “repeatedly exposed to hazardous materials including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), lead, mercury, dioxin, and various pesticides while working in work/training areas that the Navy knew were contaminated,” according to the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF). The Navy reportedly failed to inform the firefighters of the hazards and did not provide them with proper protective clothing and equipment.
The investigation was prompted by a formal complaint filed with the OSC by the IAFF 16th District and the IAFF Department of Occupational Health and Safety, which assisted former IAFF Local F-259 during the long battle with the Navy. The OSC is an independent federal investigative and prosecutorial agency charged with safeguarding federal employees from prohibited personnel practices, especially reprisal for whistleblowing. The OSC found that the disclosures by IAFF Local F-259 “demonstrated a substantial likelihood of violations of law and substantial and specific danger to public health and safety and directed the Navy to conduct a full investigation and provide a written report,” according to an IAFF Safety Alert posted on the IAFF Web site (http://www.iaff.org).
After review of the Navy’s report, the OSC concluded that the Navy failed to comply with the law in properly addressing the allegations presented by IAFF Local F-259 and accordingly jeopardized the health and safety of the former firefighters employed at Alameda NAS.
The IAFF wants to ensure that these federal firefighters are fully aware of the potential health risks associated with this exposure and is attempting to locate all federal firefighters employed at NAS Alameda. In addition, the IAFF wants to ensure that the medical/personnel records of these firefighters are properly documented to include this exposure while employed at NAS Alameda and to ensure that these firefighters are placed in a medical surveillance program. If warranted, the IAFF will also assist its federal affiliates in addressing any workers’ compensation claims associated with any illness connected with the exposures.
The IAFF is contacting the Clinton Administration and key members of the House/Senate Armed Services Committee to seek their support and assistance to get the Department of Defense and the Department of the Navy to take the necessary actions to identify and locate all federal firefighters employed at NAS Alameda during this period and to document their medical/personnel records accordingly.
Information concerning these employees should be sent to IAFF 16th District Vice President Michael J. Crouse by fax, (207) 439-8349; e-mail, [email protected].; or telephone, (207) 439-8348.
EMS Week activities announced
May 14-20 has been designated Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Week 2000 with the theme “New Century, New Hope.” The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) is cosponsoring the campaign with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Kits to help communities plan and promote EMS-related activities were distributed to hospital emergency departments, state EMS offices, fire departments, EMS services, and the 53 ACEP chapters.
An objective of the campaign is to restore the original Squad 51 depicted in the television series EMERGENCY! The project involves fully equipping the squad with the original medical equipment and wardrobe used in the television series. The items will be displayed at several national events, including a ceremony on May 16 at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. Artifacts from the show, donated by Universal Studios, will be on permanent display at the museum. Randolph Mantooth, Kevin Tighe, and Robert Fuller, stars of EMERGENCY! will participate in some of the planned events. For an up-to-date schedule of all Project 51 events, visit the Web site at
The kit contains also various fact sheets covering topics such as domestic violence, teens and firearm violence, farm safety, and safe communities provided by the EMS Week partners: the American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians; National Volunteer Fire Council; American Academy of Pediatrics; American Ambulance Association; Congressional Fire Services Institute; Emergency Medial Services for Children Program; Emergency Nurses Association; International Association of Fire Chiefs; International Association of Fire Fighters; National Association of State Emergency Medical Services Directors; National Association of EMS Educators; National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians; National Association of EMS Physicians; National Council of State EMS Training Coordinators, Inc.; and the U.S. Fire Administration. For additional information, contact Rick Murray, ACEP, (972) 550-0911, ext. 3260.
S. 2100 would authorize $100 million for college fire sprinklers
In February, Senators John Edwards (D-NC), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), and Robert Torricelli (D-NJ) introduced the College Fire Prevention Act (S. 2100), which would authorize the Secretary of Education to award to states $100 million a year in grants for five years for the purpose of assisting private and public colleges and universities, fraternities, and sororities to install fire sprinkler systems in dormitories and other student housing facilities. The grants would be awarded on a competitive basis and must be matched 50/50. The bill also directs the Comptroller General to gather data on the number of college and university dormitories and other housing facilities that have sprinkler systems and other forms of built-in fire protection mechanisms. The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
The legislation is in response to tragic fires that occurred in colleges in recent years. Among them were a fire at Seton Hall University in New Jersey in January 2000, in which three students died and 54 students, two firefighters, and two police officers from responding communities were injured, and a 1996 fire at a fraternity house in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in which five college students were killed and three injured. At press time, a fire in a fraternity house off the campus of Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania killed three students. In 1994, a fraternity house fire had killed five Bloomsburg students.
National Fallen Firefighters Foundation offers line-of-duty death training program
The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation has developed a training program to help senior fire officials be prepared when a line-of-duty death occurs in their departments. The program consists of a six-hour training program, “Taking Care of Our Own,” which covers preincident planning, survivor notification, family and coworker support, and benefits and resources available to the families. A guide and other materials are also part of the program. The Foundation will offer the training at various locations across the country.
The program, funded by a Department of Justice grant, was developed with input from volunteer, career, and combination department chiefs from across the country who had lost firefighters in the line of duty; members of the families of fallen firefighters; and the National Volunteer Fire Council, which serves on the Foundation board.
For an overview of the program and to download and use resources pertaining to the program, consult the Web site at http://www.firehero.org/fire/taking_care.htm.
NASFM urges use of less flammable plastics in computers
The National Association of State Fire Marshals (NASFM) is advocating the use of less flammable plastics in computers and related equipment such as monitors’ outer housings and printers. The information technology industry and Underwriters Laboratories (UL) have been requested to voluntarily change fire protection standards applying to these items.
Specifically, the NASFM notes that the UL1950 standard addresses only internal ignition sources but ignores external ignition sources such as candles, fires ignited by children playing with matches and lighters, and small paper fires on a desktop.
Source: “Flammable plastics pose threat,” Charles Clark, Office of the Florida State Fire Marshal, Alarm Alert, Winter 2000, Division of State Fire Marshal, Tallahassee, Florida.
Wildfires’ effects on responders’ respiratory system under study
The Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory, operated by the University of California, is developing a wildfire chemistry model that will make it possible to track the processes that can compromise firefighters’ respiratory systems, pollute the air for hundreds of miles, and erode the planet’s ozone layer. Laboratory scientists Manvendra Dubey and Rodman R. Linn, in a paper presented at the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco last fall, explained how volatile organics released into the atmosphere from wood heating and burn simulations will enable them to compute gas and smoke emissions from wildfires. When used in conjunctions with the Los Alamos’ wildfire model developed for fire safety applications, this information will make it possible to predict the effects of the emissions on the air at a wide variety of distances, the duo noted.
Source: Fire Control Digest, Washington Capital News Reports, Inc., Feb. 2000.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Alliance announced
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is the fifth most commonly diagnosed psychiatric disorder in this country, according to the PTSD Alliance. More than 13 million Americans (five percent) are estimated to have had PTSD at any given time. The newly formed Alliance, consisting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Anxiety Disorders Association of America, the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, and the Sidran Foundation for Traumatic Stress, has as its objectives “the providing of information to a broader cross-section of healthcare and other professionals who come in contact with at-risk individuals and PTSD sufferers every day,” explains Jerilyn Ross, MA, LICSW, president of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America. The Alliance is funded by an unrestricted educational grant from Pfizer Inc.
Professionals and consumers can obtain booklets and other educational materials without charge by calling the Alliance Resource Center toll-free at (1-877) 507-PTSD (7873).
NFPA committees soliciting proposals
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is accepting proposals for recommendations on the content of the following documents. Proposals must be received by 5 p.m. EDST on the closing date indicated. Forward comments/recommendations to the Codes and Standards Administration on forms that are available in the back of NFPA documents or that may be obtained from NFPA headquarters.
- NFPA 55-1998, Standard for the Storage, Use, and Handling of Compressed and Liquefied Gases in Portable Cylinders. Closing date: 7/6/2001.
- NFPA 57-1999, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Vehicular Fuel Systems Code. Closing date: 1/5/2001.
- NFPA 72-1999, National Fire Alarm CodeT. Closing date: 11/3/2000.
- NFPA 204-1998, Guide for Smoke and Heat Venting. Closing date: 6/30/2000.
- NFPA 260-1998, Standard Methods of Tests and Classification System for Cigarette Ignition Resistance of Components of Upholstered Furniture. Closing date: 1/5/2001.
- NFPA 262-1999, Standard Method of Test for Flame Travel and Smoke of Wires and Cables for Use in Air-Handling Spaces. Closing date: 7/6/2001.
- NFPA 265-1998, Standard Methods of Fire Tests for Evaluating Room Fire Growth Contribution of Textile Wall Coverings. Closing date: 1/5/2001.
- NFPA 267-1998, Standard Methods of Test for Fire Characteristics of Mattresses and Bedding Assemblies Exposed to Flaming Ignition Source. Closing date: 6/30/2000.
- NFPA 268-1996, Standard Test Method for Determining Ignitability of Exterior Wall Assemblies Using a Radiant Heat Energy Source. Closing date: 2/25/2000.
- NFPA 270-1998, Standard Test Method for Measurement of Smoke Obscuration Using a Conical Radiant Source in a Single Closed Chamber. Closing date: 6/30/2000.
- NFPA 272-1999, Standard Method of Test for Heat and Visible Smoke Release Rates for Upholstered Furniture Components or Composites and Mattresses Using an Oxygen Consumption Calorimeter. Closing date: 7/6/2001.
- NFPA 471-1997, Recommended Practice for Responding to Hazardous Materials Incidents. Closing date: 6/30/2000.
- NFPA 472-1997, Standard for Professional Competence of Responders to Hazardous Materials Incidents. Closing date: 6/30/2000.
- NFPA 473-1997, Standard for Competencies for EMS Personnel Responding to Hazardous Materials Incidents. Closing date: 6/30/2000.
- NFPA 1041-1996, Standard for Fire Service Instructor Professional Qualifications. Closing date: 6/30/2000.
- NFPA 1051-1995, Standard for Wildland Fire Fighter Professional Qualifications. Closing date: 6/30/2000.
- NFPA 1061-1996, Standard for Professional Qualifications for Public Safety Telecommunicator. Closing date: 6/30/2000.
- NFPA 1500-1997, Standard on Fire Department Occupational Safety and Health Program. Closing date: 6/30/2000.
- NFPA 1521-1997, Standard for Fire Department Safety Officer. Closing date: 6/30/2000.
NFPA issues 101® Life Safety Code®
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has released the 2000 edition of NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code®, which fully incorporates a performance-based approach to fire and life safety and is referenced in NFPA 1, Fire Prevention Code®. “The 2000 edition of NFPA 101 represents a significant advance in our approach to reducing occupants’ risk from fire and is an invaluable tool for evaluating building design,” observed John M. Watts, Jr., director of the Fire Safety Institute, who served as chair of the Life Safety Code Technical Committee on Fundamentals.
CPSC recalls fire and smoke suppressant and ceiling light fixture
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and various distributors are recalling more than 136,000 16-ounce aerosol cans of FIRE CAP brand fire and smoke suppressant. The product could actually intensify fires, according to the agency. The product’s manufacturer, the Colbra Group, is out of business.
The product was sold through Snap-On Tools dealers; Home Shopping Network, Inc.; and direct market distributors including Mid-State Fire Systems and Contract Filling Inc. from February 1996 through September 1999. The product should be thrown out or returned to the place of purchase for a full refund. For additional information, call the CPSC at (800) 638-2772.
In cooperation with the CPSC, TSI Prime Inc. of Coppell, Texas, is recalling about 126,000 four-bulb, ceiling-mounted light fixtures, which can short circuit. The fixture’s enclosure has eight sides and is constructed of glass and brass. The item was sold in Wal-Mart and Lowe’s stores nationwide from January 1998 through January 2000. The item was made in China and bears the number E181045. Use of the light should be discontinued immediately. Additional information and information concerning a free replacement are available from TSI Prime at toll-free (877) 317-9237 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. CT Monday through Friday.
