Five Fall in Hackensack
On July 1, 1988, five veteran firefighters were trapped and killed under a pile of auto parts and collapsed roof, ceiling, and truss assemblies.
FE Volume 141 Issue 10
The Latest
Amendment would presume liability of fire equipment manufacturers
An amendment to a federal product liability bill would force fire clothing and equipment manufacturers to prove their products met Occupational Health and Safety Administration fire brigade standards, should an incident involving the product result in death or injury. If a firefighter was severely burned while wearing a turnout coat and sued the manufacturer, it would be up to the manufacturer to prove that the garment met the OSHA (or more stringent state) standards.
FIRE ENGINERING
EDITORIAL STAFF EDITOR Thomas F. Brennon MANAGING EDITOR William A. Manning ASSISTANT EDITOR Sheila Smith Noonon CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Gene Carlson Paul McFadden Frank L. Fire Vincent Dunn
FIRE ATTACK WITH POSITIVE-PRESSURE VENTILATION
SUCCESSFUL INTERIOR fire attack must include good ventilation techniques Ventilation is the planned and systematic removal of hot gases and smoke with replacement by fresh air. It has many advantages Maximum effectiveness is thought to occur when the ventilation and fire attack operations are coordinated with hoselines in readiness before ventilation is initiated.
More FE Volume 141 Issue 10
Reimbursement program for local haz-mat responses
Local fire departments that respond to haz-mat incidents may be eligible for reimbursement from the federal government under an Environmental Protection Agency program initiated last year. A department must meet certain eligibility criteria: It must have responded to a haz-mat incident alone or with the aid of a state or federal agency, the response must have been in accordance with requirements of the Comprehensive Environmental Response. Compensation, and liability Act; the National Contingency Plan: and (after this month ) the local emergency plan prepared under SARA Title 111. The reimbursement program is designed to help local departments financially when they undertake temporary emergency measures.
TRAINING AIDS
A 19-minute videotape from Chemical Manufacturers Association demonstrates the importance of EMERGENCY PLANNING AND PREPAREDNESS. “Miamisburg: Anatomy of a Response” offers a look of what it takes to deal with an accident involving haz mats. Officials from that Ohio town tapped not only their immediate resources, but those of government and industry as well when a train carrying phosphorus derailed near their town.
Lodging association reports on its fire protection provisions
The American Hotel & Motel Association says a survey it commissioned shows that lodging establishments "are continually implementing stringent fire protection," but proponents of a federal sprinkler bill say it demonstrates that the legislation is needed. "As far as were concerned, it's just additional documentation supporting the need for the hotel/motel sprinkler bill,” says David Goldston, a House Committee on Science and Technology staff member.
Foam System Considerations for Conventional Fire Apparatus
As MORE AND MORE fire departments develop hazardous-materials response capabilities, they usually look toward foam equipment as an addition to their hazmat containment arsenal. How should departments choose the best foam application equipment for their operations? What are some methods by which departments with existing foam equipment can enhance their operations?
LATERAL THINKING
GEORGE, the management consultant commissioned by the mayor to conduct a finding study into the attitudes of fire department members, addressed the small conference group. These chiefs, representing the top uniformed level of management in the fire department, had invited George back for a third meeting.
COMING EVENTS
October 21-23 The DOCTORS FOR DEFENSE PREPAREDNESS AND THE AMERICAN CIVIL DEFENSE ASSOCIATION'S SEMINAR/CONFERENCE win be held in Salt Lake City. It will include presentations by strategic defense analysts, survival proponents, medical authorities, nuclear research experts, and advocates of national security.
Dangers of Overhauling
“I WANT THAT TIN ceiling opened!” the captain says to his firefighters. Three grimy and soot-covered firefighters, inside what remains of a burned-out tavern, begin the difficult task of pulling down an ornamental tin ceiling to search for hidden fire smoldering in the ceiling space above. With the Z-end of a metal multihook, a firefighter punches up the tin ceiling near a seam, creating a split between two sections.
BENZENE
BENZENE IS A carcinogenic, flammable, toxic, clear, colorless, volatile liquid with a familiar aromatic odor. It’s used as a solvent for rubber and other polymeric materials and replaced tetraethyl lead as an additive in unleaded gasolines. It’s also an intermediate or raw material in the manufacture of detergents, dyes, explosives, pesticides, plastics, and many other chemicals.It was the sixteenth highest chemical in volume produced in the United States in 1985.
