Crowd Control Strategies

Crowd Control Strategies

Crowd surges at Houston, Texas, Travis Scott concert cast a spotlight on crowd management. Ten people died and over 300 suffered injuries as the crowd surged during the rap performance. Click here to read...
Fire Protection Concerns for Cannabis Operations

Fire Protection Concerns for Cannabis Operations

Over 43,000 people call California’s Canoga Park home. But the area is also home to a smattering of marijuana dispensaries, grow operations and retail stores. This is not newsworthy by itself. California became the first state to legalize marijuana in 2012. What is...
Recent floods in British Columbia

Recent floods in British Columbia

Recent floods in British Columbia show firefighters how they have become an all-hazardous emergency provider.

Firefighters are one of the first to be called into a crisis situation and they determine which additional services need to get involved. Simply, they take care of the immediate threat to life. Our fire service community needs support from you, from the government, and the community as these events of the past two years clearly demonstrate how they have become an all-hazardous emergency provider.

Current Flood Situation in BC

The current situation that the Province of British Columbia is facing with flooding and rockslides puts additional pressure on the fire service community in particular. If they weren’t already, they certainly are now, more than ever an all-hazard provider. Usually, as the first responder, they are required to make life-saving decisions in a timely manner and determine which additional support needs to be brought to the scene. A recent example of this is those that were called to the mudslide in Agassiz Fire Department (AFD) where individuals were trapped in their cars. These front-line workers, along with others, saved the lives and their presence alone calmed the fears of many.

The Canada Task Force 1 (CTF1) is a Canadian multi-disciplinary team that brings together firefighters, and specialists like engineers, paramedics, police, and others. Together they come in to back up local response agencies in all aspects of major emergency response. Many volunteers their time to participate in this important, national asset. This week they were deployed to Highway 7 to address several submerged objects and worked closely with AFD. The Canada Task Force 2 (CTF2), a team based in Alberta, recently assisted Whitehorse as they battled major flooding. As a result of climate change, wildfires and unusual weather events are more frequent and more severe. The risk is still out there as we see with the recent events in Abbotsford.

Photo courtesy of @DriveBC

UL Fire Safety Research Institute on Ventilation

UL Fire Safety Research Institute on Ventilation

“UL Firefighter Safety Research Institute (FSRI) announced today the release of the new “Impact of Ventilation on Strip Malls” online training course. This online course explores the results of the fire experiments conducted in a multi-unit strip mall as part of...