Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute
Hosts
Changing Severity of Home Fires Workshop

www.usfa.fema.gov/fireservice/ops_tactics/firefighting/residential_environment/

Download full report:
Changing Severity of Home Fires Workshop Report (PDF)

On Dec. 11-12, 2012, in response to an invitation from the U.S. Fire Administration, 28 leading national organizations representing the fire service, fire researchers and other stakeholders in home fire safety came together at the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute in College Park, Md., to explore how changing building construction methods, materials and building contents are affecting the way fires grow and develop in today's homes. The expected outcomes, as stated by USFA, of the workshop were to:

The 1½ day workshop was designed to address emerging changes in home design, construction and contents and their potential impacts on occupant and firefighter safety. A special focus of the workshop was on firefighting tactics in response to these changes.

The overall goal of the program was to share our new understanding of these effects, gained through a recent body of research funded by the Department of Homeland Security and other government agencies, and to consider how we should respond as a community.

There were two major topics discussed. First, researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Underwriters Laboratories and others presented the technical substantiation for two phenomena which are facing the fire service in responding to today's home fires: the first is the shorter times to flashover and wind-driven fire effects which are resulting from modern building contents and configurations. The second is the changing building envelope (much of which is driven by sustainable construction goals) which is creating new hazards in exterior fire attack. Research was also presented which illustrates how modern firefighting personal protective clothing and equipment is not fully in step with changing environments for firefighters and their tactics.

The second major topic of the program was modern furniture flammability, a fire issue which is not new but which is receiving renewed attention as research is reinforcing the significant contribution of upholstered furniture to the home fire problem and developing new and environmentally benign methods to lower that contribution.

A significant proportion of the workshop agenda was dedicated to interactive discussion with the fire safety organizations represented, to fully understand the risks presented by the speakers and to identify specific strategies to address them. USFA challenged each organization represented to consider what they might do to help develop solutions to the risks identified. The result was a recommended eight-point action plan:

  1. Initiate a nationally coordinated program to develop/revise firefighting, situational awareness and preplanning curricula to incorporate new tactics based on hazards associated with evolving building construction and contents. Integrate the curricula into nationally coordinated training programs. Revise ProQual standards and certification programs accordingly. Develop a national model for continuing education for all ranks and positions in the fire service and incorporate this with evolving technical information.
  2. Develop and maintain a means to provide an ongoing national focus to monitor changes to home structures, contents, designs, etc. that impact the development and growth of home fires, as well as the impact of specific strategies to mitigate these hazards to ensure that research, training, education and code development keep pace.
  3. Ensure a continuum of research on hazards to firefighters from the evolving severity of home fires by reassessing the allocation of Assistance to Firefighters Grant funding to research versus safety and prevention. Focus this research on the impact of potential new tactics on these hazards and enhancing the capability of fire protection systems such as sprinklers to mitigate these hazards.
  4. Enhance current research and product development initiatives to improve the performance and reliability of home smoke alarms.
  5. Increase the awareness of the general public regarding hazards associated with changing home contents and construction and the importance of working smoke alarms. Incorporate this information into national fire prevention campaigns and further extend the reach of those campaigns to high-risk groups through culturally effective and appropriate means.
  6. Develop a representative, cost-effective method to measure furniture contribution to fire heat release rate and develop standard test methods based on it. Develop one or more potential solutions for fire barriers for upholstered furniture that meet fire, cost and usability performance criteria.
  7. Develop new strategies for widespread implementation of home fire sprinklers as a most effective means to mitigate emerging hazards.
  8. Increase the participation of the fire service in the development and revision of building codes to ensure that their safety is addressed in these documents.


Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute University of Maryland
Presents
Volunteer Company Leadership and Administration

Date: Saturday, June 8, 2013

Time: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Location:
Reese & Community Volunteer Fire Company
1745 Baltimore Blvd (MD Route 140)
Westminster, Maryland

Presentation:
Volunteer Company Leadership and Administration provides personnel with the basic organizational skills to effectively manage volunteer company administrative operations. This course is designed for those personnel who have been assigned administrative responsibilities as part of a volunteer fire company. Through the use of discussion and small group activities, the participants will be able to apply the management principles of planning, organizing, directing, and controlling to better enable them to meet their organization's mission and goals.

Audience:
The target audience for this course is volunteer personnel who have been newly assigned administrative responsibilities within the organizational structure of the fire company; i.e. President, Secretary, Treasurer, Director, etc. The secondary audience is those personnel who seek to refine their skills in these positions or who are looking to development themselves for future responsibilities within the company.

Prerequisites: None.

Registration:
Registration begins on May 14 and closes June 5, 2013. Pre- registration is open to all interested persons but will be limited to 40 people. Please register on the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute home page at: www.mfri.org/seminars

Register Now!
Program Registration

Download Flier

If you have any questions or need to cancel, please email seminars@mfri.org or call 301-226-9900 or 800-275-6374.

If you require special accommodations, please email your requirements to seminars@mfri.org or call 301-226-9920 or 800-275-6374.



Blast Injury and Bombing Informational Resources Available

Click to view memo
Click on the memo above to view (PDF)

To: EMS Operational Programs EMS Jurisdictions
From: Robert R. Bass, M.D. Executive Director
Date: April 16, 2013
Re: Blast Injury and Bombing Informational Resources Available

In light of yesterday's tragic bombing at the Boston Marathon, MIEMSS is providing a list of training resources available to EMS Programs and providers on the assessment and treatment of blast and bomb injuries. The training resources are shown below and are posted on the MIEMSS website.

Please note: At this time, MIEMSS has NO information indicating any immediate similar threat or danger in Maryland.

Blast and bomb injury training resource information may be found at:
American College of Emergency Physicians: Bombings and Injury Patterns of Care.
www.acep.org/blastinjury/?_cldee=cmJhc3NAbWllbXNzLm9yZw%3d%3d

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
Mass Casualty Event Preparedness and Response: After a Bombing and Blast Injury Fact Sheets
www.bt.cdc.gov/masscasualties/index.asp



2013 Mid-Atlantic Life Safety Conference
Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Save The Date!
Confronting Today's Challenges

Featuring Billy D. Hayes, Vice President of Marketing, Outreach & Admissions, Columbia Southern University

For additional information: www.fabscom.org
301-226-9962

2013 Mid-Atlantic Life Safety Conference Brochure
Click to view the 2013 Mid-Atlantic Life Safety Conference Save the Date Brochure.




MFRI Online Transcript System
Now Available in the MFRI Student Zone

www.mfri.org/transcript

Students will be able to request unofficial transcripts for themselves through the MFRI Student Zone, a feature of the MFRI website. In order to make a request for their unofficial transcript students will use their name, birth date and SSN to uniquely identify themselves to the system.

Students will receive a PDF of their unofficial transcript documenting their MFRI course work. They can print this PDF file or save it to their local computer. In the event of a discrepancy the student will be given directions on how to submit the appropriate documentation to correct their record.

The addition of this feature to the MFRI Student Zone will provide immediate feedback to students by leveraging our IT infrastructure to quickly respond to their request any time of the day.

Unofficial Transcript Sample



Underwriters Laboratories and the Fire Service

Underwriters Laboratory has a number of free, on-line training courses for fighters. These courses cover a range of important topics which are critical to fire fighter safety. Whether it's understanding a comprehensive fire approach, learning the hazards of lightweight construction, the impact of horizontal ventilation, or how special extinguisher agents perform, these courses will provide the firefighter with a education on various fire behaviors, risks and codes.

More video and other online resources can be found at the Underwriters Laboratory website: www.ul.com/fireservice