Wildland Arson Prevention
(Sources: U.S. Forest Service and Homeland1 News)
Research conducted by the U.S. Forest Service and Homeland1 News indicates that wildfires have repeatedly demonstrated the destructive power to cause the loss of life and tremendous damage to property and resources. Wildland arson, specifically, “makes up the majority of fire starts in some parts of the United States,” and is the second leading cause of fires on federal forest land in the eastern part of the nation.
Th e Emergency Management and Response—Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) confirmed that wildland arson is classified as one subset of arson, and the third most common type of arson behind residential and educational structures. The research substantiates that “arson is a leading cause of wildfire in several heavily populated states, including California and Florida.”
According to Homeland1 News, educating the leadership of the fire service, arson investigators, and law enforcement regarding wildland arson and pyroterrorism is critical to understanding these threats. Furthermore, fire managers should integrate closely with arson investigators and law enforcement to initiate and enhance prevention measures.
Homeland1 News recommends the development of a cooperative regional terrorism early warning center to increase the capability to prevent pyroterrorist attacks by the timely sharing of information, and to conduct contingency planning to focus on rapid identification of arson-induced fires. Subsequently, fire behavior analysts and arson investigators can establish reporting links to these centers in the event arson wildfire cases follow any discernable pattern.
Arson prevention programs and training are available at the U.S. Fire Administration website. More information about wildfires can be seen at the Fire Protection Engineering article titled “ Wildfire: Past, Present, and Future. ”
Lightweight Wood Frame Structure Fires
(Source: FireRescue1 News)
In an article seen at FireRescue1 News, Chief Gary Bowker, a retired fire chief and fire marshal, explained that today's lightweight wood frame structures burn faster, fail sooner, and sometimes do so with tragic results. He asserted that lightweight wood frame structure fires “have evolved into one of the most dangerous types of structure fires encountered by firefighters.”
hief Bowker elaborated that lightweight wood frame structures were born with the introduction of smaller 2x4 inch lumber, and has continued to transform into lighter, cheaper materials with less mass for structural support. He wrote that “less mass means quicker failure” and “the combustibility of lightweight building components has greatly increased from those used in traditional wood frame construction.”
The Emergency Management and Response—Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) corroborated that a large number of new homes, apartments, restaurants, hotels, and commercial buildings constructed in the past 20 years have lightweight wood frames. This risk to firefighters is compounded because of the increase of manufactured and modular constructed homes and buildings. These structures are frequently fabricated utilizing engineered wood assemblies of lesser mass and/or synthetic products that contribute significantly as a fuel, which results in a faster flame spread and failure time when exposed to fire.
To survive lightweight wood frame structure fires, Chief Bowker offered a quote from the late Francis L. Brannigan, writer and teacher in the field of fire protection engineering: “The building is your enemy, know your enemy.”
Bomb Arson Tracking System
(Source: International Association of Fire Chiefs)
The Emergency Management and Response—Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) was notified by the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) regarding availability of the Bomb Arson Tracking System (BATS). It is a no-cost tool to aid U.S. fire departments and fire marshals in their efforts to track arson incidents, manage investigation data, and apprehend arsonists.
Endorsed by the International Association of Arson Investigators (IAAI), BATS operates on many levels to support both local investigative needs and national collaboration and trend spotting. It has been utilized to assist with several major case investigations, which were the result of serial arson fires.
Recently, the IAFC partnered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to create a new informational video to alert first responders to its evolving capabilities and encourage them to participate in the multifaceted system.
According to the IAFC press release, it is critical for fire department personnel to understand that BATS is not intended to replace the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS). “While the primary mission of NFIRS is to collect fire incident information, BATS is dedicated to documenting and supporting the resulting post-incident investigation in cases involving fires or explosives.”
Anhydrous Ammonia Online Training
(Source: TRANSCAER)
The Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response (TRANSCAER) is a voluntary, nationwide outreach effort that helps communities prepare for and respond to hazardous material transportation incidents. Recently, TRANSCAER launched its Anhydrous Ammonia Online Training Program to educate and train officials across the country on emergency response to anhydrous ammonia incidents.
This week, the Emergency Management and Response—Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) learned from a TRANSCAER staff executive that the online training documents and videos are now available. The training materials consist of Anhydrous Ammonia training tour videos, PowerPoint presentations, instructor and student guides addressing emergency response, chemical properties, transports and nurse tanks, and railcars, etc.
The training tour focuses on a number of safety training topics, including sessions on ammonia properties, what steps need to be taken to ensure ammonia is transported safely, using transport equipment properly, and information on emergency response necessary in case of an ammonia release.
For this training, the target audience includes emergency responders, emergency management officials, public safety representatives, law enforcement agencies, agricultural business, ammonia industry personnel, and others related to the transportation and security of anhydrous ammonia. |
