“Home electrical fires account for an estimated 51,000 fires each year, nearly than 500 deaths, more than 1,400 injuries, and $1.3 billion in property damage. Electrical distribution systems are the third leading cause of home structure fires. Each year in the United States, arcing faults are responsible for starting more than 28,000 home fires, killing and injuring hundreds of people, and causing over $700 million in property damage.”

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“As flames spread up the hill toward million-dollar homes, the firefighters scrambled to keep pace.

“It’s starting to move up the trees!” shouted Jason King as Steve Zieba raced ahead with a hose, slipping on the steep incline before aiming his nozzle at a burning eucalyptus trunk. On the cliffside above them, another crew hauled a water line up sheer rocks and through heavy smoke to replace a hose melted by the blaze.”

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“The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) is humbled to partner with the National Carbon Monoxide Awareness Association (NCOAA) in efforts to improve firefighter safety. Recently code proposals were submitted to enact changes to the International Fire and Building Codes which would establish uniform baseline requirements for carbon monoxide (CO) alarms in all new and existing commercial buildings that have fuel-burning appliances or have attached garages. At the end of September 2021, following a defeat on these proposals at the spring code development hearings, there was a hearing to reconsider both proposed code changes, IFC-102 and IFC-116. Thanks to great work by many involved, including testimony from the NFFF, both proposals received 2/3 approval by the ICC Membership at the public comment hearing. The next step is to pass the online governmental consensus voting which will then complete the process for this change in the 2024 ICC Code documents.”

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“On 12 July 2020, a fire set USS BONHOMME RICHARD (LHD-6) ablaze for more than four days, and left the ship damaged beyond economical repair. Although the fire was started by an act of arson, the ship was lost due to an inability to extinguish the fire. In the 19 months executing the ship’s maintenance availability, repeated failures allowed for the accumulation of significant risk and an inadequately prepared crew, which led to an ineffective fire response. There were four key focus areas to this final outcome.”

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“Warehouses are often lost because of failure to adhere to three basic principles. We evaluated eight total loss warehouse fires where sprinklers were controlling the fire, or where the fire was thought to be completely extinguished, and yet ended in a total loss. Three main causes were identified.”

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“American Petroleum Institute (API) created the API 650, 651 and 653 to provide standards for the safe storage of petroleum products. These standards were designed to protect employees, the public and the environment. However, it is the tank owner’s responsibility to put these standards into place. API tanks must be inspected regularly, and accurate information must be obtained to prolong the life of the tank safely. Researching and studying the characteristics of the product stored is essential, and could be lifesaving. The Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) can provide this information, and should be referred to before any type of inspections or repairs are performed. Serious injury or death could occur if the inspector has not received the proper information needed. Ethanol, for example, reacts violently and explodes with several products. It cannot be mixed or stored with other fuels. Many precautions are to be taken when inspecting a tank with such highly explosive and hazardous contents. A reputable tank company with proper training should be hired to perform the inspections. This training requires ten hours of OSHA, Red Cross First Aid, CPA and BBP. Pulmonary function test, medical evaluations and respirator fit test should be performed on employees before entering the tanks. Tank owners should have a rescue team available no more than fifteen minutes from the site. The rescue team should be properly equipped and trained. “

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“In fire historian Stephen Pyne’s opinion, we’re living in an age he calls the Pyrocene, a period of rising global temperatures and wildfires on an unprecedented scale. “If we think about adding up all the ways we’re using fire, we’re creating the fire equivalent of an ice age,” Pyne, the author of the books Between Two Fires: A Fire History of Contemporary America and To the Last Smoke, told Intelligencer. “Climate change, changes in sea level, mass extinctions, large shifts in biogeography — all these kinds of markers that we’ve used for the ice ages are now sort of passed through a pyric looking glass.”

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