Responding to incidents that are on or near railroad tracks or threaten railroad infrastructure requires some special considerations for Public Safety Answering Points / Emergency Communications Centers (PSAPs/ECCs). To determine the location of the incident, railroads typically use a milepost, cross street or crossing identification system rather than a street address or intersection.
For the first part of this webinar, speakers from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) will review FRA information and resources for 911 telecommunicators, dispatchers, and first responders, including the Emergency Notification System, railroad crossing data, GIS data, and more.
The second part of the webinar will discuss Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and 911 with a real-world example. To enhance the delivery of public safety services during emergency situations and improve traffic congestion management, the McConnell Public Safety and Transportation Operations Center (MPSTOC) brings together multiple agencies from Fairfax County and the Commonwealth of Virginia. Speakers from the Virginia Department of Transportation and the MPSTOC will describe the operating concepts of the MPSTOC and how the agencies all work together, as well as how 911 benefits from collocation with, and access to, Intelligent Transportation Systems and ITS data sharing.
The State of 911 webinar series is designed to provide useful information for the 911 stakeholder community about federal and state participation in the planning, design, and implementation of Next Generation 911, or NG911 systems. It includes real experiences from leaders utilizing these processes throughout the country.
The recording and slide deck from every webinar in the series is available online. Sign up for email alerts to be notified when upcoming webinars are announced.
Learn more and register for this webinar at 911.gov.
'Fire! Fire! Fire!’
The Perplexing, Deadly Electric Bike Problem
Malfunctioning lithium-ion batteries in the increasingly popular form of transportation have been linked to numerous explosions, blazes, and deaths—and little is being done to reduce the danger. Click here to read the article in Consumer Reports.
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) released its annual U.S. Fire Department Profile report last month. The report provides an overview of local and municipal fire departments in the United States using data gathered from the NFPA’s most recent Survey of Fire Departments for U.S. Fire Experience During 2020 and the NFPA fire service survey from 2018–2020.
The report’s key findings show that in 2020, the nation’s fire service was comprised of:
29,452 fire departments. Of these, 18% were all career or mostly career departments and protected 70% of the US population.
An estimated 1,041,200 career and volunteer firefighters. Of these, 364,300 (35%) were career firefighters and 676,900 (65%) were volunteer firefighters.
Nationwide, 37% of fire departments provided no emergency medical services, 46% provided basic life support (BLS), and 17% provided advanced life support (ALS).
89,600 firefighters were female (9%). Of the career firefighters, 17,200 were female. There were 72,400 volunteer firefighters who were female.
50% of firefighters are between 30 and 49 years old.
Read the full report along with supporting data tables and related reports on the NFPA’s website.
E-scooters and E-bikes are becoming more and more common as people are seeking both new ways for recreation as well as ways to lower their transportation costs and environmental footprint. An estimated 300 million E-bikes are expected to be in use by next year. Unknown to many users, the power unit in these bikes and scooters can catch fire and cause explosions.
This rise in popularity exposes potential hazards that first responders must be aware of. To address this issue, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has created a new webpage featuring information on why E-bikes and E-scooters catch fire, what some jurisdictions are doing to try and better regulate that risk, and what tips people can follow to stay safer if they store or charge E-bikes and E-scooters. Click the the video below for more information about E-bike and E-scooter fire safety.
(Some areas in our 1st response district are susceptible to storm surges and flooding. We should be aware of the salt bridges that can form in EV battery compartments and the challenging fires that can occur.)
When Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida on Sept. 28, significant storm surge brought salt water from the ocean inland, submerging many vehicles at least partially in salt water.
In the weeks following landfall, several electric vehicle (EV) fires were reported in southwest Florida. To date, there have been at least 10 EV fires in Collier County, at least one fire in Lee County, and one on Sanibel Island that burned two houses to the ground. These fires are believed to be related to the effects of saltwater submersion on the vehicles.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), residual salt within the battery or battery components can form conductive “bridges” that can lead to short circuit and self-heating of the battery, leading to fires. The time frame in which a damaged battery can ignite has been observed to vary widely, from days to weeks. This means there is the potential for more EV fires to occur in Florida in the coming weeks.
Florida’s State Fire Marshal wrote a letter to the NHTSA on Oct. 6, requesting more information and guidance on how to respond to these incidents. The NHTSA’s response emphasized the importance of first identifying any flooded electric vehicles and then moving them at least 50 feet from any structures, other vehicles or combustibles. The effort to identify flooded EVs and relocate them to safe locations is still ongoing in southwest Florida.
These recent EV fires in Florida have raised some broader questions about how to handle damaged electric vehicles safely and practically, especially as EV sales are expected to increase dramatically in the next few years. EV battery fires can be very time- and resource-intensive for responders. There are safety risks for responders related to the emission of toxic and flammable gases from damaged batteries, and the unpredictability of thermal runaway and re-ignition.
For responders, the NHTSA’s reply to Florida’s State Fire Marshal referred to its 2014 guidance for first responders and second responders, developed in collaboration with the United States Fire Administration, National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), and others. These bulletins were revised after the 2012 flooding from Hurricane Sandy submerged several hundred EVs in salt water, leading to several fires in Fisker EVs. The 2014 bulletins now incorporate response guidance related to hazards from flooded EVs.
Michael Daley of Firehouse Magazine provides the definitive explanation for the work that's required of rescuers at the site
of a trench collapse before they enter the trench.
Target hazard areas for trench collapse include construction sites and utility work near roadways. There are plenty of significant issues here: lack of shoring, personnel in the unshored trench, overhead loads being lowered with personnel in the trench and an open roadway that’s a short distance away from the trench.
The development of local infrastructure in communities nationwide has resulted in a large amount of road and utility work. With this work comes opening of soil—and the hazards of possible trench collapse. Workers and would-be rescuers can become caught and, in some cases, killed needlessly in trenches that collapse with little to no warning.
It has become commonplace for the local emergency responder to be summoned to handle this situation.
Anatomy of a trench
A trench can be defined as a temporary excavation in which the length and the depth of the trench are greater than the width of the floor. For ease of nomenclature, many teams identify an excavationas a hole where the floor’s width is much greater than the actual depth of the trench. Although there are differences between a trench and an excavation, dealing with both can be very dangerous situations.
Trenches are made up of five main parts. The lip is the top two feet of the wall; the belly is the center of the wall; the toe is the bottom two feet of the wall; the wall comprises the lip, belly and toe; the flooralso is known as the base of the trench.
It’s important to identify the parts of the trench during an incident, as each part’s involvement in the collapse can offer various problems in dealing with the stability of the trench.
Size-up for a trench collapse should begin during the response to the scene. Familiarization with your jurisdiction should help you to identify any target hazards that the area might possess and what resources you need to abate them.
Set-up
Once on scene, the primary focus should be to regain some sort of control of the incident. It might be necessary to remove would-be rescuers from a dangerous area prior to your rescue operations. This won’t be easy, because emotions might run high, with people trying to help their friends and coworkers.
Furthermore, crowd control is essential. Keep onlookers, the media and nonessential personnel away from the Hot Zone.
During this time, performing accountability of the staff who are on scene prior to the collapse is paramount. After that, it can be determined how many personnel are unaccounted for.
These are reasons why it’s important to set up work zones on scene.
The Hot Zone is the area where the actual trench rescue operations are performed. This area can be as much as five times the depth of the trench.
The Warm Zone is the area where the command post, tool staging, shoring preparation, entry into the Hot Zone and other activities that are associated with the rescue take place.
The Cold Zone is located behind the Warm Zone and is for support operations. This remote area helps to ease load forces and vibrations on the open trench and usually is at least 20 times the depth of the trench away from the Hot Zone.
Next, it’s vital to determine what currently is going on at the incident. Any hazards that are outside of the trench, such as vibrations, traffic congestion, energized utilities and secondary collapse issues, must be addressed.
The area inside of the collapse might provide clues as to the location of a missing worker. A hard hat, a tool belt, pipe strings and grease cans, among other items, can give rescuers an area of proximity as to where the victim might be buried. This would provide an area for rescue operations to begin.
It’s important to consider that, although the victim might not be seen, that doesn’t automatically make the incident a body recovery. The victim might be positioned in a manner that protects the chest and allows for expansion from the weight of the collapsed materials. Pipes, construction materials and other items can provide voids for safe havens for a victim.
Shoring
An operational guideline should be in place, so response to a trench collapse includes the right equipment and personnel to operate on scene. With many departments operating with a minimal staffing pool, it’s imperative that the guideline includes automatic aid departments that are proficient in this area. Staffing is the most precious resource that departments bring to any emergency scene.
There should be considerations for the equipment, too.
Shoring materials include what will be put in place to make the trench safe, including ShorForm, FinForm and EuroForm wooden panels. These panels are a minimum of 1-inch high-grade plywood that’s coated with a phenolic resin that seals and strengthens the sheets to take the abuse of trench work without failing and cracking.
These panels are fitted with uprights, which are 2 x 12-inch wood planks that provide considerable strength to sheeting and serve as an area for cross-bracing to be attached to.
Many times, cross-bracing can include cut dimensional timbers, which will vary in size and diameter, depending on the width and depth of the trench.
Wood shoring materials should be inspected for physical damage from flexing during operations, rot and decay, warping and other defects that might cause the material to fail under pressure.
Other forms of cross-bracing include hydraulic struts and pneumatic struts. Aluminum hydraulic struts are preengineered shoring systems that combine aluminum cylinders and either horizontal or vertical rails to support the sidewalls of a trench. The cylinders are charged with air to extend against the trench walls, set at a specific air pressure to meet the requirements of the soil type. These struts are manually locked into place for maximum compressive strength. The total force on the strut can vary based on the depth of the trench, the compressive force of the soil and additional loads that around the lip of the trench.
No matter the type of equipment, it’s vital that all personnel are well-versed on their use and operation.
Making trench area safe
Approaching the trench end, crews start to drop ground pads and bridging, which help to distribute the weight of personnel and equipment around the lip of the trench. Ground pads are 4 x 8-foot sheets of three-quarter-inch plywood. (The spoil pile side requires 2 x 12-inch planks between the trench lip and the spoil pile.) Ground pads should surround the trench area at least equal to the depth of the trench and should overlap one another to ensure that there are no open areas of soil.
As crew members move the spoil pile farther away from the lip, it might be possible to lay additional ground pads on that side of the trench.
While the ground pads are placed, atmospheric monitoring and supplemental ventilation should be underway. It might be possible to collect methane inside of the trench, which must be removed before a flash fire can occur. Fans that are used for ventilation should be intrinsically safe and be capable of moving a minimum of 1,000 cu. ft. of air per minute.
Type of collapse
Rescuers must identify the type of collapse that occurred. Common types include:
Spoil pile slides occur when the spoil pile slides back into the trench, either by machine operators mistakenly knocking part of the spoil pile back into the trench or because of a surcharge load on the edge if the spoil pile was placed too close to the lip.
Side wall shear occurs when a portion of the wall breaks off and falls into the trench. This is more common in trenches that are open for long periods of time. Signs of impending wall failure include fissure cracks along the edge of the trench.
Slough-in occurs when there’s poor water drainage in the trench soil and the belly of the trench wall falls inward to create a dangerous overhang under the ground pads. This is a tough trench to shore, because the voids that are created by the collapse must be addressed.
Lip-in occurs when the weight of the spoil pile is too close to the lip or when heavy machinery that’s operating in close vicinity to the trench causes the lip to fail, taking everything that’s on the lip (equipment, personnel, etc.) with it into the trench.
Inside of the trench
Once the collapse pattern is identified, crews can begin to shore up the walls of the trench.
A means of egress, such as a ladder or stairway, must be located no farther than 25 feet of lateral distance for rescuers. This is best served by keeping the “two ways out” rule in mind. Place at least two ladders for egress in the trench, one at each end.
Sheeting panel assemblies are laid into place, facing opposite of each other. Once in place, rescuers measure between the panels to install adequate cross-bracing. Cross-bracing will vary with soil type, trench dimension and shape, and type of bracing that will be employed. The bracing is cleated and secured into place, and the process is repeated until there is a safe area to operate to remove the victim.
The next step includes walers, which are large-diameter wood dimensional timbers that support the initial panels and allow the installation of supplemental shoring timbers. The sheer size and weight of the waler requires a lot of personnel to install in a limited amount of room at the floor of the trench. Once the waler system is installed and supplemental shoring is in place, space within the work area can become cramped.
A lot of other things go on inside of the trench.
Patient care will be an ongoing operation, including stabilizing the victim while soil is removed from around the individual.
With the potential for significant injury, it’s vital that ALS is on scene to provide necessary treatment.
Rescuers must navigate around hazards that can’t be removed from the trench, such as pipes, construction equipment and materials. Any encumbrance that’s within the footprint of the trench must be stabilized and secured.
Crews that operate outside of the trench can begin to prepare immobilization and removal equipment, so the victim can be packaged and removed as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Not for the untrained
The scene of a trench collapse is a dynamic, high-risk environment that can result in injury and death to workers and rescuers alike. Therefore, it’s imperative that rescue from these situations only be attempted by emergency personnel who are trained in trench rescue.
Trench Safety Standards
Trenches are dug for numerous reasons, including storm drains, sanitary lines, utility services and repair, and roadway renovation and repair. Although their purpose varies, safety standards must be addressed while the trench is open:
Any trench or excavation that’s greater than five feet in depth must be shored
Excavation of a material to a level that’s no greater than two feet below the bottom of the support system is permitted
Excavated material (also known as the spoil pile) shall not be piled within two feet of the lip of the trench; this often is a significant safety issue that requires a lot of personnel to move the pile immediately
Personnel shall be protected from the hazards of cave-in while they enter, work in and exit the trench
Personnel aren’t permitted in shields or trench boxes while they are installed, removed or moved vertically.
In trenches that are less than five feet deep, shoring might be required if: examination of the trench by a “competent person” suggests a potential collapse situation; vibration from road traffic or machinery can cause a cave-in; the trench has been open for an extended period of time (24 hours); or the trench runs parallel within two feet of a roadway or second open trench
For a complete list of regulations regarding trenches, familiarize yourself with Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations regarding trenches, mainly 1926.650, 1926.651, 1926.652 and the A, B, C, D and F appendices of 1926 Subpart P. Printing these regulations and carrying them on your apparatus can be worthwhile. They make great reference materials.
Identifying Soil
Identifying the type of soil that’s involved in a trench collapse assists in determining the equipment that’s needed to safely shore the trench. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration defines four categories for most soils.
Stable rockis a natural solid material that can be excavated, but it will remain somewhat intact when exposed to the elements. It can sustain vertical walls up to 90 degrees. This type of material usually requires the aid of a blasting agent to assist in digging in these areas.
Class A soils have an unconfined compressive strength—the load per unit area (square foot) at which a soil fails under compression load—of at least 1.5 tons per square foot. Examples of these soils include strong clay that hasn’t dried out, cemented soils, hardpan soils and clay loam.
Class B soilsprovide a lower level of stability. They have an unconfined compressive strength of 0.5–1.5 tons per square foot. It isn’t uncommon for water to seep from the trench walls in this type of soil. Class B soils include weak clay soils, dried out unstable rock, previously disturbed soil and granular cohesive soils.
Class C soilsare the least stable type of soil. They have an unconfined compressive strength of less than 0.5 tons per square foot. Sandy granular soils, submerged soils and weak clays make up this category.
One way to identify a type of soil is the use of a pocket penetrometer, which is a small measuring device that classifies soils in terms of consistency. A small diameter shaft is pushed into the soil, and the amount of resistance of the force that’s applied is marked on a scale that’s measured in tons per square foot.
A few manual tests also can be performed to help to identify the type of soil that’s in a trench:
Plasticity Test. Mold a moist or damp sample of soil into a ball and attempt to roll it into threads of soil, approximately the thickness of a pencil. If at least a 2-inch length of soil is attained without breaking, the soil is considered cohesive.
Thumb Penetration Test. Take a sample from the top of the spoil pile, which would represent the bottom of the trench, and take a second sample from the bottom of the spoil pile, which would represent the top level of the trench. Take both samples and roll them into a ball. Try to impress your thumb into each ball to see how difficult it is to break the sample apart. If the thumb easily penetrates, the soil is considered unstable; if it takes great effort to penetrate the soil with your thumb, the soil is considered cohesive.
It should be noted that no matter the soil that’s identified, the soil did indeed collapse. Therefore, it is wise to classify any collapse soil as Class C soil for shoring purposes.
After the Rescue
Even after a victim is rescued from a collapsed trench and is receiving definitive medical attention, the scene is far from stabilized. Shoring equipment and tools that were used to make the trench safe must be removed. The process is reversed for removal, but the scene becomes more hazardous, because the trench was open to the elements all the while during the rescue, which might allow for soil to become more likely to collapse. Great care must be taken during demobilization, so all rescuers remain safe during the termination of the incident.
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Virginia State Weekend at the National Fire Academy
The Virginia Department of Fire Programs (VDFP) in partnership with the National Fire Academy (NFA) will be holding deliveries of NFA programs at our on-campus weekend, March 18-19, 2023.
This is a VDFP sponsored weekend at the NFA. There is no cost for course registration or on-campus meal ticket. The only cost to the attending student is travel to and from the NFA campus. Click the flyer to the right to learn more.
Courses being offered this year:
• Introduction to Unified Command for All-Hazard Incidents
• Incident Safety Officer
• Fire Investigation for First Responders
• Leadership in Supervision: Creating Environments for Professional Growth
Registration is required through Cornerstone as well as through the NFA using the U.S. National Fire Academy FEMA Form 119-25-2-75-5a which is available through your local training office or by clicking here.
The Transportation Research Board (TRB), part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM), has just released a pre-publication draft of a report, Preparing for LNG by Rail Tank Car: A Readiness Review.
Shipping liquefied natural gas (LNG) by rail tank car is a viable mode in U.S. regions where the natural gas pipeline network is limited.
In 2020, the Department of Transportation’s (DOT’s) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) finalized a rule to allow bulk transportation of LNG by an existing type of tank car used for cryogenic liquids, the DOT-113. The rule contained several safety requirements, including enhancements to the steel used in the outer tank of the DOT-113, remote monitoring of the pressure and location of the tank car, and risk assessments to evaluate safety and security.
Before the first bulk shipment of LNG by rail tank car, the TRB was tasked with a study to examine the safety of transporting LNG by rail. This report reflects the outcome of the second part of this study, which conducted a broad review of the hazard characteristics of LNG and the safety record of LNG shipments when transported by other modes. The goal of this phase was to identify areas where additional investigation, analysis, and monitoring may be warranted so that industry and regulators can better assess LNG’s risks in rail transportation and make choices about how best to manage those risks.
The report focuses on safe train operations when transporting LNG, support for emergency responders, and design features of the new cryogenic tank car, including pressure relief devices, insulation, and the type of outer tank steel.
Moving LNG by tank car presents challenges for the agencies responsible for responding to hazardous materials incidents. Because only limited quantities of LNG and other flammable cryogens are transported in the United States, few first responders have been trained in LNG emergency response and even fewer have been trained in responding to incidents involving LNG transported by rail. Firefighters are not as familiar with LNG and its related containers as they are with other Class 2.1 gases, such as propane, butane, and propylene, and with Class 3 flammable liquids, such as crude oil and ethanol.
Chapter 6 of the report, “Emergency Preparedness and Response,” outlines the likely challenges that moving LNG by tank car would pose for emergency responders, followed by brief descriptions of the current emergency planning, preparedness, and response activities for hazardous materials incidents conducted by government and industry. The chapter also includes an overview of currently available emergency response training for response to LNG incidents.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has just announced the release of a report with operational approaches to protect critical infrastructures such as the electrical grid, communications equipment, water and wastewater systems, and transportation modes from an electromagnetic pulse (EMP).
An EMP event can be a naturally occurringgeomagnetic storm, which can happen when severe space weather creates a major disturbance of Earth’s magnetosphere. An EMP event could also be man-made, such as when a burst of electromagnetic energy from a nuclear explosion is produced in the atmosphere.
Whether natural or man-made, an EMP event is capable of disrupting or damaging the electrical components that are used throughout our infrastructure, disrupting power lines, telecommunications, and other electronic equipment.
The National Public Warning System (NPWS) is one component of our critical infrastructure that could potentially be disrupted by an EMP event. This system ensures the President of the United States can communicate with Americans in the event of a national emergency.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s) Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) Program equips 77 private sector radio broadcast stations with EMP-protected backup transmitters, communications equipment, and power generators that would enable the station to broadcast national emergency information to the public in the event of an EMP event.
As part of a broader DHS effort to ensure critical infrastructure and emergency response systems are protected against EMPs, FEMA conducted high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP) testing on the NPWS equipment to evaluate its operational resiliency. The testing confirmed the effectiveness of protection for NPWS stations, showing they could withstand the effects of an EMP in accordance with military specifications.
The best practices and design principles noted in this 16-page report,Electromagnetic Pulse Shielding Mitigations: Best Practices for Protection of Mission Critical Equipment, can be implemented by critical infrastructure owners and operators who seek to secure their assets against EMP in a similar manner to the NPWS equipment. It covers mitigation measures to harden a broad range of assets, including communications, networking, and other electronic equipment as well as entire rooms and buildings.
This report is a collaborative effort between the DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), FEMA’s IPAWS Program, and the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
Virginia State Weekend at the National Fire Academy
The Virginia Department of Fire Programs (VDFP) in partnership with the National Fire Academy (NFA) will be holding deliveries of NFA programs at our on campus weekend, March 18-19, 2023.
This is a VDFP sponsored weekend at the NFA. There is no cost for course registration or on-campus meal ticket. The only cost to the attending student is travel to and from the NFA campus. Click the flyer to the right to learn more.
Courses being offered this year:
• Introduction to Unified Command for All-Hazard Incidents
• Incident Safety Officer
• Fire Investigation for First Responders
• Leadership in Supervision: Creating Environments for Professional Growth
Registration is required through Cornerstone as well as through the NFA using the U.S. National Fire Academy FEMA Form 119-25-2-75-5a which is available through your local training office or by clicking here.
Free Electric Vehicle First Responder Training
GM and OnStar have partnered with the Illinois Fire Safety Institute (IFSI), a nationally-recognized leader in First Responder training and life safety research, to deliver Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) education directly to communities across the nation, at no cost. 4 sessions are offered during the mornings and afternoons of September 21-22. These sessions will cover, Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs), Electric Vehicle (EV) Systems, Initial Response Procedures, Basic Electrical Concepts, Emergency Operations, Charging Stations. Don't hesitate, space is limited! Register by clicking here.
Firefighter Gear Decontamination FAQs
Exposure from carcinogen is a threat all firefighters face daily. Recently, The Firefighter Cancer Initiative shared a “Contamination Exposure Cycle” that depicts ways carcinogen can enter your home. Carcinogens can cling on to your gear for several hours, contaminating your personal vehicle, home and more. Click on the video link below that covers frequently asked questions about firefighter gear decontamination in order to refresh your safety knowledge.
A July 14 blog by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) discusses the outcomes of a recently completed NFPA project called Firefighting Foams: Fire Service Roadmap. This project was conducted by NFPA’s research arm, the Fire Protection Research Foundation. It began in 2021 and the final report was released in May 2022.
The purpose of this project was to develop a roadmap to transition the fire service from the fluorinated aqueous film-forming foams (AFFFs) currently used to extinguish flammable liquid (Class B) fires to fluorine-free foams (FFFs).
All AFFFs make use of a class of chemicals containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly referred to as PFAS, which act as surfactants within the firefighting foam to form a vapor barrier and enhance the foam’s fire suppression capability. The significant environmental and health risks of the PFAS in AFFFs are now well documented. Because of these risks, legislators at the federal and state levels are phasing out fluorinated firefighting foams in military, aviation, industrial, and municipal firefighting arenas.
AFFFs are going away, and alternative foams are needed. However, recent research on the efficacy of alternative fluorine-free foams by the NFPA, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Department of Defense has shown that FFFs are not as effective as AFFFs at fighting liquid fuel fires. To use the FFFs currently on the market safely and effectively, fire departments will need to adopt different tactics and new training on how to select, use, and dispose of these new foams. Fire departments will also have to be prepared to adapt to changes in legislation and in the foam industry as fluorine-free foam products continue to improve.
The NFPA’s “Fire Service Roadmap” conducts a thorough walk through all considerations for transitioning firefighting to fluorine-free foam, supported by the latest research and a technical panel with representation from the firefighting profession, fire science and research, the fuel industry, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and other stakeholders.
The report begins with an overview of each of the following topics, and the report’s annexes cover each topic in-depth:
Understanding current regulations and knowing when to make the transition.
Firefighting foam tutorial.
Selection of an acceptable AFFF alternative.
Cleaning of equipment and definition of acceptable levels.
Disposal of current AFFF products (concentrates and solutions).
Implementation of the selected alternative.
Health concerns and minimizing firefighter exposures.
Post fire / post discharge cleanup and documentation.
You can learn more about this project and the state of research on alternative firefighting foams in NFPA’s blog. You can access the NFPA’s final report, along with a project summary, report summary, and 2021 workshop proceedings on its Firefighting Foams: Fire Service Roadmap project page.
The 11th annual Tri-City Fire and EMS Regional School will take place on September 17-18 at Richard Bland College in Petersburg, Virginia. Numerous EMS and fire specific courses will be offered and filled on a first come, first serve basis. A $35.00 registration fee is required and will cover school cost and the steak/shrimp feast on Saturday night.
Click the flyer to the right to view the full schedule and register. Don't wait, the deadline to register is Friday September 2.
VDFP is now accepting applications for scholarships to attend the VATF-2 Structural Collapse Specialist Course in Virginia Beach! Candidates must be in good standing with a local, regional or divisional technical rescue team and have Operations/Level 1 certification at a minimum in all core VDFP technical rescue courses in order to be considered for the scholarship.
A letter of recommendation is required from the applicant's department head or team leader, provided on departmental letterhead.
Please submit application and letter of recommendation to Chad Riddleberger. Candidates must also submit a separate VATF-2 application for the course in order to be considered for the scholarship.
This Scholarship includes course tuition (valued at $1,850.00) and a daily lunch. The deadline to apply is Friday, August 5.
Please email course application and letter of recommendation to Division Chief of Heavy Technical Rescue, Chad Riddleberger.
ISFSI and FSRI Partner to Release New Evidence-Based Structural Firefighting Online Course
The International Society of Fire Service Instructors (ISFSI) and UL’s Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI) have partnered to develop a free, comprehensive online course derived from more than a decade of firefighter safety research. This new evidence-based structural firefighting training course is now available online through FSRI’s Fire Safety Academy. This training addresses fire control within a structure by establishing a basic understanding of fire science and fire dynamics and highlights takeaways from NFPA 1700, Guide for Structural Firefighting. During the two-hour course, members from both ISFSI and FSRI teams will discuss topics such as fundamentals of fire science, fire dynamics in structures, building construction, heat transfer and PPE, exposure and hygiene considerations, strategic considerations, tactical considerations, and implementation strategies.
This online training is designed to help firefighters:
Understand why firefighting tactics are changing based on modern construction, newer on-scene technology, and evolving fuel loads.
Understand how to assess and approach the scene of a fire based on the latest science-based fire dynamics research and testing.
Prepare to evaluate a fire’s growth and spread and utilize up-to-date control methods.
If learning how to apply firefighting strategies and tactics rooted in science to your everyday fireground operations interests you, click the button below to start.
