NIST commences study of Super Sofa Store fire
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) began a technical study of the fire at the Super Sofa Store furniture store/warehouse in Charleston, South Carolina, in June in which nine firefighters perished. Information about the study’s goals and procedures is at http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/charleston_fire_study.html.
OSHA defines “on site in one location” for chemical standard
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued an official interpretation and explanation of the phrase “on site in one location” in the “Application” section of its Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals standard. The interpretation was published in the June 7 Federal Register.
OSHA interprets the phrase as follows: “The standard applies when a threshold quantity of a highly hazardous chemical (HHC) exists within an area under the control of an employer or group of affiliated employers. It also applies to any group of vessels that are interconnected or in separate vessels that are close enough in proximity that the HHC could be involved in a potential catastrophic release.”
The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission had asked OSHA to clarify the original language because it wasn’t clear to the Commission if it was meant to limit in some way the applicability of the standard to a highly hazardous chemical process and whether the cited activities were both “on site” and “in one location.”
NIST updates issues on WTC 7 investigation
The draft report of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) investigation into the collapse of New York City’s World Trade Center 7 (WTC 7) building is expected to be released for public comment by the end of the year. The 47-story office building was adjacent to WTC Towers 1 and 2, which collapsed following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
NIST’s WTC 7 analysis incorporates detailed information about the building’s structure, construction, fires, damage sustained from falling WTC 1 debris, and other technical factors for determining the probable collapse sequence.
The NIST investigation team initially worked simultaneously on the WTC towers and WTC 7 collapses. In June 2004, the team shifted to full-time study of the towers to develop needed simulation methods and other research tools and to expedite completion of the WTC towers report. Work resumed on the WTC 7 study in October 2005.
The current NIST working collapse hypothesis for WTC 7, as described in the June 2004 “Progress Report on the Federal Building and Fire Safety Investigation of the World Trade Center Disaster” (Volume 1, page 17, and Appendix L), follows:
An initial local failure occurred at the lower floors (below floor 13) of the building due to fire and/or debris induced structural damage of a critical column (the initiating event), which supported a large span floor bay with an area of about 2,000 square feet;
Vertical progression of the initial local failure occurred up to the east penthouse, as the large floor bays were unable to redistribute the loads, bringing down the interior structure below the east penthouse; and
Horizontal progression of the failure across the lower floors (in the region of floors 5 and 7, [which] were much thicker than the rest of the floors), triggered by damage due to the vertical failure, [resulting] in a disproportionate collapse of the entire structure.
This hypothesis may be supported or modified, or new hypotheses may be developed, through the course of the continuing investigation. NIST also is considering whether hypothetical blast events could have played a role in initiating the collapse. Although NIST has found no evidence of a blast or controlled demolition event, it would like to determine the magnitude of hypothetical blast scenarios that could have led to the structural failure of one or more critical elements.
Updated information with the specific date for the public release of the NIST draft report is posted at http://wtc.nist.gov.
Federal government awards $1 billion for improving communications
U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez and U.S. Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Michael Chertoff announced in a release in July that $968 million of Public Safety Interoperable Communications (PSIC) grants were awarded to state and local first responders to improve public safety communications and coordination during a natural or man-made disaster.
The grants will help public safety agencies to acquire, deploy, and train in interoperable communications systems to enhance interoperable communications of voice, data, and/or video signals. The U.S. Congress authorized $1 billion to establish the PSIC program as a one-time, formula-based matching grant program in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.
The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is working with the public safety agencies to improve communications during an emergency and “fill gaps identified in the Statewide Communications Interoperability Plans,” according to a DHS release. Grant-funded projects must be completed by the end of fiscal year 2010. Additional information is at http://www.ntia.doc.gov/psic or http://www.dhs.gov/xgovt/grants/index.shtm.
Receiving the largest grants were California ($94 million), Texas ($65 million), and New York ($61 million-$34.8 million to be allocated for New York City). Other cities that received specific amounts of money were the Los Angeles/Long Beach (CA) area-$22.3 million; San Francisco Bay (CA) area, $14.5 million; Chicago (IL), $16.2 million; Houston (TX), $14.6 million; Jersey City-Newark (NJ), $17.5 million; and Washington (DC) $11.9 million.
Fire service asks Congress to investigate PSOB program
At a press conference in July, International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) President Chief Jim Harmes, National Volunteer Fire Council President Philip C. Stittleburg, officers and representatives of other fire service organizations, and the widows and families of firefighters killed in the line of duty asked Congress to hold hearings to determine why the Department of Justice (DOJ) is subjecting the families of firefighters, police officers, and EMTS who have fallen in the line of duty to long delays in receiving death benefits-or, in some cases, denying them. According to the IAFC, only three percent of benefit claims were accepted.
Congress unanimously passed the Hometown Heroes Survivors Benefits Act (P.L. 108-182) in 2003. It expanded the Public Safety Officers Benefit (PSOB) program to make the families of fallen public safety officers who suffered a fatal heart attack or stroke in the line of duty or up to 24 hours after a “nonroutine stressful or strenuous” line-of-duty activity or training event eligible for survivors’ benefits.
Almost four years later, 199 families of fallen public safety officers are still waiting to hear from the DOJ about their claims. Forty-seven families have been turned down, and seven families have received benefits from the program.
According to the NVFC, the DOJ has denied claims in which firefighters suffered a fatal heart attack during emergency response on the basis that “emergency response doesn’t necessarily constitute ‘nonroutine stressful or strenuous physical’ activity.” A report recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine appears to contradict this, says the NVFC. The report found that “firefighters are at an extremely heightened risk of suffering a heart attack not only during fire suppression but [also] during alarm response and alarm return as well,” says Stittleberg.
“DOJ has been determining on a case-by-case basis whether or not the emergency response described in a PSOB application passes some illusory litmus test,” Stittleburg charges.
Members of the fire services, especially departments that have applications for survivor benefits claims involving heart attack or stroke pending, are asked to contact their members of Congress to request them to expedite the process. Additional information on the press conference is at www.iafc.org/news/.
Fireman’s Fund offers CA wildfire readiness plan
The objective of a new wildfire readiness program initiated around the end of June by Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company is to protect millions of Bay Area (CA) homes from wildfires. The free program is available to homeowners in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma Counties. By calling the Wildfire Readiness Helpline [(800) 317-0575], homeowners can receive a free on-site inspection of their homes. The initiative is in partnership with FireProtec, a vegetation-removal company. A firefighting professional, who conducts the visit, advises the homeowner on how to create a defensible space around the home. The analysis will include information on which brush, grass, and trees must be cleared. Homeowners may have the brush removed by professionals at a 10 percent discount.
Also, Fireman’s Fund is offering without charge an expanded home inspection to all of its homeowner policyholders. The analysis will cover a broad range of risks, from removing a propane tank from under the deck to replacing flammable roofing materials.
APCO announces public review period for CTO training standards
On July 9, the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International initiated a 30-day public review and comment period for its first candidate American National Standard (ANS) Minimum Training Standards for Public Safety Communications Training Officers (CTO).
Developed by APCO’s Call Center Standards Committee, the standard fosters levels of consistency for training officers providing on-the-job training. APCO International’s membership approved the standard earlier this year. It has been submitted for ANS status through the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) approved APCO International voluntary consensus process.
Power tool batteries pose laceration hazard
Milwaukee Power Plus, Chicago Pneumatic, and Extractor 14.4 and 18-volt 2.4 Ah NiCd battery packs are voluntarily being recalled. If a vent on the battery cell is damaged or compromised during use, the battery can explode. Milwaukee Electric Tool Co. received 35 reports of incidents at press time. The batteries are used to power drills, saws, radios, flashlights, wrenches, and Extractor windshield glass removers. About one million units are involved. They were distributed through home centers, hardware stores, industrial distributors, and vehicle service distributors nationwide from June 1999 through 2005. For additional information, contact the manufacturer at (800) 729-3878, or visit its Web site at www.milwaukeetool.com (pdf). Additional information is at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtm/07/07234.html/.
FM Global launches fire prevention grant program
Preventing fire is the objective of the fire prevention grant program recently instituted by FM Global, a business property insurer. Fire departments and national, state, regional, local, and community organizations are eligible to apply for a wide variety of fire prevention, preparedness, and control efforts, such as arson prevention and investigation; prefire planning for commercial, industrial, and institutional facilities; fire prevention education and training initiatives; and fighting fire in sprinklered buildings.
For additional information or to apply for a grant, go to www.fmglobal.com/grants. This program replaces FM Global’s former arson grant fund, established in 1974.
FDA: Avandia poses “potential safety issue”
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cautioned in a May release that it is “aware of a potential safety issue related to Avandia (rosiglitazone), a drug approved to treat type 2 diabetes. According to the FDA, safety data from controlled clinical trials has shown a “potentially significant increase in the risk of heart attack and heart-related deaths in patients taking Avandia.” However, the agency points out, “other published and unpublished data from “long-term clinical trials of Avandia … provide contradictory evidence about the risks in patients treated with Avandia.”
The FDA recommends that patients taking the drug, especially if they are known to have underlying heart disease or are at high risk of heart attack, should consult with their doctors about this new information and evaluate the available options for treating their diabetes.
The FDA noted that is was still analyzing “all available data.” It had not asked the drug’s sponsor, Glaxo SmithKline (Research Triangle Park, North Carolina), to take any specific action. www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/new01636.html/ accessed June 20, 2007
Line-of-Duty Deaths
June 21. Firefighter Daniel F. Pujdak, 23, Fire Department of New York: injuries sustained from falling from the roof of a four-story building while fighting a fire.
June 22. Firefighter Timothy Sanborn, 56, Clinton Area Fire and Rescue, St. Johns, MI: heart attack.
June 28. Firefighter Edward Summers, 69, Patchogue (NY) Fire Department: cause to be determined.
June 30. Captain Samuel W. Downing, 45, Mobile (AL) Fire-Rescue Department: heart attack.
July 2. Firefighter Dennise M. Leslie, 37, Coal City (IN) Community Volunteer Fire Department: injuries sustained in an accident in her privately owned vehicle while en route to the fire department to get a truck to respond to a wildfire.
July 5. Firefighter Eric Lyons, 38, Kennewick (WA) Fire Department: cause of death pending.
July 5. Chief Michael James Penovich, 38, Saratoga Springs (UT) Fire Department: drowning as a result of the crash of a pickup truck he was driving; cause of the accident to be determined.
July 7. Fire Technician James J. McRae, 34, District of Columbia Fire/EMS Department: cause of death pending.
July 13. Driver/Engineer Michael Douthitt, 48, Broward Sheriff’s Office Department of Fire/Rescue, Fort Lauderdale, FL: cardiac arrest.
July 15. Firefighter Stephen Dembski, 41, Ridgefield Park (NJ) Fire Department: apparent heart attack.
July 21. Captain Matt C. Burton, 34, Contra Costa County Fire Protection District, Pleasant Hill, CA: trapped while performing search and rescue in a residential fire. The incident is under investigation.
July 21. Fire Engineer Scott P. Desmond, 37, Contra Costa County Fire Protection District, Pleasant Hill, CA: trapped while performing search and rescue in a residential fire. The incident is under investigation.
July 23. Pilot Dennis Luster Davis, 61, Idaho Helicopters Incorporated contract pilot for the U.S. Forest Service, Yreka, CA: helicopter crash while transporting drinking water to firefighters fighting the Elk complex of fires. Cause of the accident is under investigation.Source: USFA Firefighters Memorial Database
Resources
- Retention and Recruitment for the Volunteer Emergency Services: Challenges and Solutions, second edition, is designed for volunteer and combination departments experiencing challenges in these areas. Developed through a U.S. Fire Administration/National Volunteer Fire Council partnership, it can be downloaded at www.usfa.dhs.gov/media/press/2007releases/062007.shtm/. A curriculum based on this publication is being developed for seminars the NVFC will offer nationally at state association conferences.
- NFAOnline, the U.S. Fire Administration’s National Fire Academy’s training system, offers free training and education programs that can be completed at the student’s pace. The site has technical support and enables students to immediately print a certificate and transcript. At press time, it offered the following courses: “Community Safety Educators,” “Fire Service Supervision,” “ICS 100,” “ICS 200,” “Emergency Response to Terrorism,” and “Emergency Medical Services.” Additional courses are to be added. To enroll, go to www.nfaonline.dhs.gov; review the course catalog through the “New Students” option.
- The 2008 Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG) for responders to hazmat incidents is available electronically. It was developed under an agreement between the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Special software, the Wireless Information System for Emergency Responders (WISER), which enables access through personal digital assistants (PDAs) and Windows®-based laptops and desktops, will be available later this year. Additional information on the ERG is available at http://hazmat.dot.gov/pubs/erg/gydebook.htm/. Information on WISER is at http://wiser.nlm.nih.gov/.
- Preventing Fire Fighter Fatalities Due to Heart Attacks and Other Sudden Cardiovascular Events, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Publication No. 2007-133), includes case reports, data related to cardiovascular disease, conclusions, and recommendations. For a free copy, call (800) 356-4674, fax (513) 533-8573, e-mail [email protected], or visit www/cdc.gov/niosh/.
