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Standards
NFPA Impact: November 2011
A year ago, I reported that the NFPA was launching a website featuring materials for teaching first responders how to deal with electrical vehicle (EV) incidents.
The rise and fall of the paramilitary structure
Has your fire department’s tolerance for discipline and traditional top-down rule changed in the last 10 years?
Fire IQ: October 2011
If you’ve been around the fire service long enough, you realize that there’s almost nothing that’s too basic to review from time to time.
Fire IQ: July 2011
Ten years ago, the Ontario government legislated the amalgamation of all Ottawa-area cities and municipalities, creating one of Canada’s largest fire departments covering 2,800 square kilometres, with 43 fire stations (27 urban and 16 rural), 1,000 full-time firefighters and administrative staff, and 400 part-time firefighters and staff. We set about to harmonize policies, strategies and tactics. I was asked to head a committee responsible for developing an accountability system that would address the needs of this new, large, composite fire service.
Back to Basics: June 2011
In the last two issues, we looked at the benefits of vertical ventilation for fire-ground operations and tactics, and we learned how to make a louvred cut. Sometimes, firefighters cannot make it to the roof because of safety concerns. When this is the case, horizontal ventilation is an option.
Challenges and strategies
To break the ice, Ted Wieclawek’s first order of business when he spoke to delegates to the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs (OAFC) conference in May was to clarify the pronunciation of his often-mangled surname: Vin-sla-vick.
Volunteer Vision: June 2011
I was honoured to be invited to a summit in Washington, D.C., this winter about the future of the volunteer fire service, hosted by the Volunteer and Composite Officers section of the International Association of Fire Chiefs. As I departed for the United States, I vowed to be as open-minded as possible and to absorb as much as I could. I knew the three-day summit would be interesting but it was also eye-opening.
NFPA Impact: June 2011
Fire departments across Canada do not seem to place the necessary onus on fire-inspection activities. This may be because city officials lack funding or commitment to see these inspections carried out, or because they may not have an adequate handle on the extent of hazardous processes and facilities in their communities. The benefits of mandatory inspections are not clearly identified in our fire codes or prevention acts.
Mandatory retirement
It’s not exactly Freedom 55, but it’s close. Proposed mandatory retirement for suppression firefighters in Ontario is also vexing and frustrating for fire-service leaders who are struggling to understand its implications.
Fire-code enforcement
“Ultimately, burning buildings and their occupants live or die according to code and it is very difficult for us to outperform that reality.” - Alan Brunacini Sr., June 2008
NFPA Impact: May 2011
The capabilities of local fire services need to be taken into consideration during the building-approval process.
Volunteer Vision: May 2011
This past hockey season, I was particularly interested in the NHL all-star game and the picking of the two teams.
Necessity leads to accreditation
For years, the Agassiz Fire Department in British Columbia struggled to protect its residents. With just half of the town on municipal water, Agassiz’s single fire station used ingenuity and a fair bit of muscle to become the first Canadian department to receive the Fire Underwriters Survey accreditation for alternative water supplies using large diameter hose lay (LDHL) delivered up to 600 metres from an accredited water source.
NFPA Impact: December 2010
Thanks to a push by the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs (CAFC) and the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), the NFPA standards council has recently agreed to the creation of a deployment standard for fire prevention activities.
Best Practices: December 2010
A new standard that defines confined spaces and provides guidelines to help rescuers avoid potential risks is expected to reduce the number of confined-space deaths in Canada. The Canadian Standards Association (CSA) recently released CSA Z1006 Management of Work in Confined Spaces, a national standard that has implications for firefighters and first responders.
NFPA Impact: November 2010
Canadian advocacy groups hope that one in every 20 new cars sold in Canada in the next decade will be electrically powered. Their target is to get 500,000 highway-capable, plug-in vehicles onto Canadian roads by 2018. This is in addition to the anticipated even larger numbers of hybrid vehicles.
Built to standard
The Office of the Fire Marshal in New Brunswick is sounding alarms about rescue vehicles that don’t conform to standards developed by the Underwriters Laboratories of Canada (ULC).
NFPA Impact: September 2010
The department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) has released a new, multi-year strategy for fire protection of First Nations communities. Although this strategy is a good first attempt, INAC falls short in its effort to increase fire department capabilities because it fails to set the standards needed as a target.
NFPA Impact: August 2010
Earlier this summer I had the opportunity to sit on a panel with Chief Bruce Burrell, representing the CAFC, and Kevan Jess, the Alberta Chief Fire Administrator. The panel was part of the inaugural meeting of the Canadian Association for Senior Living (CASL).
NFPA Impact: June 2010
Canada has an inglorious past with regard to wildland urban interface (WUI) fires. Entire Canadian communities have been destroyed, including Vancouver in 1886, where 1,000 structures were devastated in 45 minutes with 28 killed and 3,000 left homeless.
NFPA Impact: March 2010
A report from the NFPA that compares fire departments in Canada and the U.S. reveals some surprising and disturbing trends. Every year for the past eight years NFPA has mailed out a survey to Canadian fire departments.
NFPA Impact: February 2010
This being an Olympic-themed edition, I thought it a good time to discuss research activities and the researchers at the National Research Council of Canada. What is the link, you ask? Well, just like our Olympic athletes, Canadian researchers represent Canada on an international level and showcase our advancements in the understanding of fire science.
NFPA Impact: November 2009
We need to address the fire-safety conditions in facilities that care for the aged. We have, in these types of residences, a fire-loss rate that should not be considered acceptable and that proposed changes to the 2010 National Building Code won’t rectify.
NFPA Impact: September 2009
After attending several provincial association meetings this summer I am still surprised by the number of smaller volunteer departments that underestimate the benefits of having school-based public education campaigns in their communities.
NFPA Impact: August 2009
Many, if not most, Canadian communities have no understanding of their needs for fire-fighting flows. I have done a half dozen municipal water-supply education sessions across Canada to date and the overwhelming majority of participants report that they do not look at fire-fighting flows before buildings or subdivisions are approved. The assumption appears to be that others are looking after the fire-service interests.
NFPA Impact: The need to embrace defensible housing
In the late 1800s and early 1900s entire Canadian communities were lost or severely damaged due to wildland/urban interface fires. In many cases, these fires were the impetus for the formation of fire brigades and for the creation of building standards. Vancouver was destroyed by wildland fire in 1886 and in 1908, Fernie, B.C., suffered the same fate. Unfortunately, we appear to have forgotten this history. In 2002 a B.C. auditor general’s report found that there was a need for wildland/urban interface standards such as those in the NFPA. In 2003, more than 33,000 people had to leave their homes in the Okanagan Valley because of the massive wildland/urban interface blaze. But have we learned anything or taken any action to reduce the threats? I think not, and the problem is not unique to B.C.
NFPA Impact: May 2009
The fire service is not immune to the downturn in the economy. Pressures at the municipal level to see savings are increasing as other municipal departments face cuts. The fire service cannot rest on the public’s previously favourable view and, like other departments, must rationalize the services it provides.
NFPA Impact: Prevention still the key to reducing fire losses
Over the past decade Canadians have experienced increased costs for the deployment of firefighting services. These are due in part to the increased expenses to train, deploy and equip firefighters. Cost-conscious community leaders will begin to question these costs, seeking tangible measurements of the benefits of these services.
NFPA Impact: Warnings needed for lightweight construction
Recent news reports recounting how firefighters have come close to losing their lives in fast-burning structure fires have also quoted eye-witness testimonials about how quickly homes are being completely destroyed by fire. Often, the witnesses have expressed complete surprise at just how fast the homes burned.
NFPA Impact: Threats from new fuels boost need for advisor
The high cost of gasoline and concern over dependence on foreign oil has spurred a number of new developments in the petroleum industry. Two items of concern to fire services are the increased use of ethanol and the production of biodiesel.
Up to standard
With 2009 on the horizon, departments must ensure that they are current with National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards. There are four areas to be aware of: bunker gear; apparatus; PASS; and SCBA.
NFPA Impact: Apparatus standard aimed at saving lives
The 2009 edition of NFPA 1901 Standard for Automotive Fire Apparatus has been released by NFPA. It is intended to be applied to all new fire apparatus ordered after Jan. 1.
NFPA Impact: Do we need a national fire services advisor?
The CAFC, IAFF, CVFSA and other national fire service organizations have been actively lobbying for the establishment of a National Fire Service Advisor (NFSA).
NFPA Impact: Who is managing your water supply?
Fire services across Canada have a major problem ensuring that there is an adequate water supply for fire fighting. Too few departments seem to address this or naively assume that others are looking after it.
NFPA Impact: Embracing innovation: Changing tactics and tools
You have all heard the old line about the fire services boasting more than 100 years of tradition unheeded by progress. This may be true, in that as a group we tend to look with skepticism on any new technology. We, as standards development bodies, have also done a great job conditioning the fire services to always look for certification.
NFPA Impact: Canada needs to get tough on cigarette manufacturers
On Oct. 1, 2005, Health Canada introduced the Cigarette Ignition Propensity Regulations. This was long-fought battle championed by the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs. The intent was to require manufacturers to produce cigarettes that have a higher probability of self extinguishing. It was estimated that this would reduce the number of fire fatalities by as many as 70 people a year in Canada.
Code changes make elevators safer for firefighters, residents
As the harmonization of the North American Elevator Code progresses, firefighters have a safer system to use during fire operations in high buildings.
NFPA Impact: New objective-based codes have failed the service
The newly released National Building and Fire Codes of Canada do not identify the protection of emergency responders as a core requirement. In fact, nowhere – even in the new functional statements – is this an identified requirement. This will create major problems in the future should the fire service wish to initiate changes to the code using this rationale.
NFPA Impact: The fire service in Canada needs to get behind residential fire sprinklers
All fire safety strategies can be regarded as ways of reducing the risk of unwanted fire, whether it be risk to the lives and health of people, risk to property, risk to the continuity of businesses or other organizations, or its impact on cultural heritage or the environment. Risk involves considerations of likelihood of fire occurrence and severity of harm if fire occurs. Likelihood is reduced through fire prevention programs, whether changes in behaviour through education or engineered changes in products that provide initial heat sources or first fuels.
NFPA Impact: A modest proposal for reporting fire losses
In the past it had been very difficult to put a finger on the number of unreported fires in Canada. These unreported fires also make it more difficult for the fire service to properly convey the serious threat that fire plays in our daily lives. Many were and remain unaware of the magnitude of the threat.
NFPA Impact: Fire service must respond to lack of statistics
One of the greatest hurdles in effecting change in fire safety in Canada is the lack of reliable statistics. Anyone who attempts to use the available statistics is dealing with little information, out-of-date data and data of little value in comparing performance among the provinces. This makes it more difficult for the fire service to convince others of its value to public safety.
Fire-code flexibility: Objective-based format better for firefighters
The new Ontario Fire Code, which comes into force on Nov. 21, represents more than 200 technical changes made through public consultation since 2003, and a radical change in fire- and life-safety policy from a strictly prescriptive format to one that is objective based. According to its press release, the Ontario Office of the Fire Marshal (OFM) believes that the new format will promote "greater flexibility and more uniform enforcement."
Flashpoint: Compliance with standards is a good thing
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway. - Dr. Kent M. Keith, The Paradoxical Commandments
NFPA Impact: SCBA and PASS changes protect hazmat responders
The National Fire Protection Association has released its second edition of "A Needs Assessment of the U.S. Fire Service". It is unfortunate but we have no equivalent study on Canadian fire service needs. I believe, however, that culturally there is little difference in the operations of fire services across the border. It is therefore not a big leap in logic to assume that the same deficiencies found in the U.S. fire service might be found in Canada.
NFPA Impact: Pandemic preparations and the fire service
If your department has not already done so, it is time that you made your preparations for the anticipated pandemic. Most experts agree that we are overdue. It would stretch the existing social fabric to its capacity. Essential services such as fire and medical response would be greatly challenged with increased calls, expanded roles, and greater personal risk.
Major changes to NFPA codes approved by membership
In keeping with this edition's theme of fire prevention and public education, I thought it appropriate to give you a very brief update on the major changes recently approved by the NFPA membership at the World Safety Conference and Exposition, held in June.
Fire Service Elevators; Are We Using them Safely?
The harmonization of two codes regarding elevators in co-operation with the North American Free Trade Agreement has brought about a number of changes to elevators on both sides of the border. The Canadian Standards Association's B44 code and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (AMSE) A-17 code have been brought in line with one another and the resulting changes should improve our safety during fire operations in high buildings. |