Proshield Fire & Security is a member of the National Fire Protection Association and National Association of Fire Equipment Distributors. Check back often to stay current on industry news from these two organizations.
NFPA collects fire experience data from thousands of U.S. fire departments
Each year, NFPA’s Fire Analysis and Research group sends out a fire experience survey to over 20,000 U.S. fire departments protecting larger communities with populations of 50,000 or more, and to a sample of departments protecting smaller communities to collect data on their fire experience. Now through the end of May, the survey forms will be collected by mail and e-mail, and the results will produce estimates on the overall fire problem in the U.S. Statistics on the number of fires and associated losses, fire department calls, data by region and community size, as well information on firefighter injuries will...Colorado Fire Sprinkler Coalition debuts on FSI website
The Colorado Fire Sprinkler Coalition is now included among the other coalitions in the State initiatives section of the Fire Sprinkler Intiative (FSI) website. Home fire sprinkler advocates from Colorado now have their own place to call home on this site.
From the site - "The Colorado Fire Sprinkler Coalition is dedicated to promoting the installation of fire sprinklers in future generations of homes. The Coalition is a resource for information about home fire sprinklers and, through a cooperative effort with stakeholders, works to identify and overcome barriers to the acceptance of sprinklers as a critical component of home fire safety."
Advocates in Colorado have been working diligently to study all aspects of home fire sprinklers since the requirement was included in all national model codes, in 2008.
If you have questions or would like to participate in the Colorado Fire Sprinkler Coalition, call Coalition Chair Mike DellOrfano, Assistant Chief, Community Safety Services South Metro Fire Rescue Authority, +1 720 989-2232.
If you would like to start a fire sprinkler coalition in your state, contact your respective NFPA Fire Sprinkler Specialist Tim Travers or Jeff Hudson.
NFPA and NVFC video on “Understanding and Implementing Standards” guide
We blogged last week about the the National Volunteer Fire Council(NVFC) and NFPA developing a guide to assist departments in understanding and implementing NFPA standards. In a new video, NFPA’s Ken Willette gives an overview of the guide, which addresses NFPA 1500, NFPA 1720 and NFPA 1851. Watch the video bleow; for more detail, read the earlier blog post.NFPA 1620: Standard for Pre-Incident Planning Technical Committee Meeting
The NFPA Technical Committee responsible for NFPA 1620, Standard for Pre-Incident Planning, will be meeting April 16-18 in San Antonio. The committee will be reviewing Public Inputs to change the existing document language and the committee will be reviewing the entire documents for possible changes and if necessary any re-structuring of the document.Anyone with an interest in pre-incident planning or the NFPA code-development process is welcome to attend. NFPA's Orlando Hernandez has the details.Chief Grupp is guest of honor at Illinois fire sprinkler symposium
Chief Grupp accepts honor at summit
Twenty-five years ago, Grupp helped the Village of Long Grove pass the first NFPA 13D home fire sprinkler ordinance in Illinois. At the time when Grupp began researching home fire sprinklers, they had just begun gaining momentum in municipal ordinances in California.
Grupp proposed the idea of an ordinance to the Long Grove Village Board and the Board decided in favor of an ordinance, which was enacted on April 12, 1988. Today, over 1,500 homes are protected with fire sprinklers in the Village of Long Grove.
Long Grove's ordinance became a groundbreaking event for home fire sprinklers in Illinois. Since that historic day in 1988, another 87 jurisdictions in Illinois have joined Long Grove with home fire sprinkler ordinances of their own.
State Farm® promotes fire sprinklers at Bloomington Home Show
State Farm announced that recently, homeowners got a chance to have their questions answered about home fire sprinklers systems by stopping at its booth at this year's Bloomington Home Show. The show is a premiere event in Bloomington, Illinois.
Visitors to the booth were able to talk to representatives from the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition, local fire departments and learn more about State Farm's support of residential fire sprinklers. State Farm cites the death and injury toll of house fires and recognizes the life saving benefits of these systems.
"Residential fire sprinklers are incredibly valuable to produce stronger, safer homes where lives are saved and a family's biggest investment, their home, is better protected," said Bloomington Fire Chief Mike Kimmerling.
State Farm Agent Rick McLean and representatives with State Farm Bank also were present to answer insurance related and home financing questions.
If you are in a building and it feels too crowded – leave
I just read an article in this morning’s Boston Globe about a grand opening celebration for Restoration Hardware (RH) in Boston. The beautiful building on Berkeley Street has been totally remodeled. A packed grand opening party on March 6th over crowded the store with invitations sent to 5,000 people. People on the first floor of the building could hardly move. Invited guests were entering through the main entrances as well as the catering entrance. Fortunately, by 7:30 pm, the Boston police and fire officials were at the store closing down the event before a tragedy happened. This is a reminder for everyone: when you enter a public building, if it feels overcrowded and you do not feel safe, leave immediately.
Check out our Safety in Places of Public Assembly safety tips sheet which has reminders for people to consider when entering any public assembly building – including stores.
NFPA’s EV training for Canadian first responders
Canada is in the midst of a push to increase the number of electric vehicles (EV) on its roads. However, with this new influx of electric cars, emergency responders will invariably need training in how to deal with them. NFPA is working with the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) to adapt NFPA’s American first responder EV training program to better suit Canadian needs. The SCC sees this as a necessary effort to address the gap in emergency responder training. The training packages will be available to the provinces in mid-2013. They include online resources as well as Train-the-Trainer sessions. For...ESPN anchor Hannah Storm shares the specifics of her burn injury with NFPA Journal
ESPN SportsCenter anchor Hannah Storm vividly recalls a gas grill explosion that resulted in first- and second-degree burns on her body: "The explosion was so great that it blew the doors off the grill," she tells NFPA Journal in the latest issue. "My neighbor...thought the explosion was actually a tree falling through his own roof. I remember seeing the fire and then being on fire and rushing to put it out." Following the harrowing incident, Storm made a miraculous return to TV and has become NFPA's newest grilling safety advocate. Through a series of public service announcements, she warns the...Everyone’s favorite Fire Dog celebrates his birthday today; Happy Birthday Sparky!
Today, we celebrate Sparky the Fire Dog's birthday! Of course, Sparky likes to remind us (as shown in the video) that it is a good time to brush up on our fire safety tips, and he is correct!
On a lighter note, birthdays are a great time for fun and celebration! Remember Sparky's 60th birthday two years ago when we had Carlo's Bakery (home of TLC's The Cake Boss) make an amazing cake just for his special day?!
Also, our Sparky the Fire Dog party kit provides everything you need to create a special day for your own little firefighter! We have even provided photos to give you ideas on how to bring your party to life. These free DIY party plans are downloadable pdfs and include pages of tutorials and party instructions. You will find everything from the party to-do list, invitations, thank you cards, birthday banner, cupcake toppers, name tags, water bottle wrappers, games and more.
See more fun ways we have celebrated Sparky's birthday in the past, and be sure to wish Sparky a happy birthday on his Facebook page!
