The Colorado Department of Corrections “SWIFT” (State Wildland Inmate Fire Team) program helps inmates learn teamwork and also provides a potential post-prison career and gives back to communities by performing an important role in a fire-prone state.
Even a 1930s fire truck, assuming it’s well cared for, shouldn’t be any more risky than any other vehicle, but it needs proper maintenance and attention by somebody who understands that technology.
Esri and the Institute of Fire Engineers—USA (IFE) have partnered to improve fire prevention planning through the use of simple risk analysis capabilities that include computer mapping and demographic analysis. The methods being developed will be made available for free to US fire departments. They will show public safety staff how to create focused fire prevention programs.
(Esri is a software development and services company providing Geographic Information System (GIS) software and geodatabase management)
This video may be a good addition to your fire prevention library.
Is there a rivalry between police and firefighters.
The initial review of a pilot project by the Vancouver, Washington Fire Department suggests responding with SUVs rather than engines to low priority calls will keep engines available for priority calls and cost less money. The department spends $1.34 a mile to drive an SUV. It costs $7.47 a mile for an engine.
NIOSH’s Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program investigated the line of duty death of a fire fighter struck and killed by backing fire apparatus at a rural brush and structure fire to identify contributing factors and make recommendations.
A Spanish company has developed drones capable of carrying and dispersing a large quantity of liquid at the site of a fire. The unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, are launched from transport planes, fly to the location of the fire using the guidance system developed by the company and later return to base.
Investigators have linked a number of fires to radiant heaters used by exterminators. Last year a 50-unit condominium in Edmonton burned when exterminators used propane fired heaters to bring the temperature in the infested room above 120 degrees. Exterminators say more than an hour and a half of exposure to such high temperatures ensures a 100 percent bed bug kill but fire experts warn heating confined spaces with powerful heaters creates a serious fire hazard.
Fire chiefs in the UK call for an “urgent review” into the use of Chinese lanterns. The lanterns have become an increasingly popular sight at weddings, Halloween celebrations, music festivals and even funerals.