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| NIST Looks at Electronic Equipment for First Responders, cont. | |||
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The Fire Equipment Evaluator (FEE) was developed to investigate the
performance of electronic equipment using simulated fire conditions. It
is described in the report. In addition, results of testing the Personal
Alert Safety System (PASS) are presented, including recommendations for
revised standards for PASS.
Personal Alert Safety System (PASS) devices are designed to signal for aid if a fire fighter becomes incapacitated. |
Thermal exposure sensor technology has already been included in a number of PASS devices, but no standard exists for testing the performance of the thermal sensor. The report, “Performance of Thermal Exposure Sensors in Personal Alert Safety System (PASS) Devices” by Nelson Bryner, Daniel Madrzykowski, and David Stroup, NIST IR 7294 addresses this issue. The report describes the performance of thermal exposure | sensors in a series of laboratory- and full-scale tests. After a series of tests, the limited set of temperature versus thermal sensor activation data indicated that sensors respond differently under static, flowing, and radiation intense conditions. Full-scale data demonstrated that current thermal sensing/PASS implementations may not provide a firefighter with sufficient warning of an acute thermal hazard. The limited series of experiments demonstrates the need to develop a standard testing protocol to | ensure that all PASS devices provide adequate protection for firefighters. To learn more about the project, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, contact Michelle Donnelly at michelle.donnelly@nist.gov for electonic equipment standards or nelson.bryner@nist.gov for information on PASS. |
| British 2004/2005 Fire Statistics Provide Valuable Information, cont. | |||
 British Survey Provides Statistics on House Fires. |
While smoke detectors are found in 80% of English homes, 10% of the homes do not have any type of fire safety protection. The majority (75%) of the battery-operated smoke detectors use one-year batteries. Of the households with smoke detectors, 92% have one installed in the hallway or landing. The results of this survey can be found in the report “Fires in the Home: Findings from the 2004/05 Survey of English Housing.” | This report presents information on fire safety measures and an estimate of working residential smoke alarms in England and identifies those households least likely to own a working smoke alarm. It also identifies those households at highest risk of experiencing fire. More about the survey results, this report and other fire statistic publications may be downloaded from the ODPM website at http://www.communities.gov.uk/ | |
| Forest Fire and Grassland Danger Meters Available | |||
| Forest fires and grassland fires present different challenges to wildlife, humans, and nearby communities. Identifying the potential level of threat allows for better level of preparedness and allocation of resources. The Australian Bushfire Behaviour and Management Team at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has announced the | availability of meters (software and appropriate hardware) to be used to determine the potential hazard level of different types of fires. They are: the McArthur Mk 5 Forest Fire Danger Meter, the Grassland Fire Danger Meter, the CSIRO Grassland Fire Spread Meter, the CSIRO Fire Spread Meter for Northern Australia, and the House Survival Meter. | The House Survival Meter (HSM), the most “universal” of the meters, was designed in 1987 after many houses were destroyed in Victoria during the 1983 Ash Wednesday fires, one of Australia’s most well-known bushfire events. The HSM provides a guide to the probability of a house surviving a bushfire based on six factors. |
The two factors that are the most significant are the fine fuel load around the exterior of the house and the slope to windward side of the house. |