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The second report, Structural Collapse Fire Tests: Single Story, Wood Frame Structures, by David W. Stroup, Nelson P. Bryner, Jack Lee, Jay McElroy, Gary Roadarmel, and William H. Twilley, NISTIR 7094, is another piece of knowledge for the system.
The fire test scenario was selected as part of the training video being prepared by the Phoenix [Arizona] Fire Department.
Four structures with different roof constructions were used for the fire tests. The roof of each structure collapsed approximately 17 minutes after ignition. In addition to the full scale experiments, fire properties of the plywood and oriented strand board (OSB) roofing materials were measured by NIST using the cone calorimeter apparatus.
Trends in Firefighter Fatalities Due to Structural Collapse,
1979-2002,
by Lori D. Brassell and David D. Evans, NISTIR 7069, (the third
report on the DVD) was discussed in the Fall 2003 issue of FIRE.GOV. Go
to:
http://www.fire.gov/newsletter/fall2003/
page_four.htm#Trends .
An earlier report, Early Warning Capabilities for Firefighters: Testing of Collapse Prediction Technologies, NIST GCR 03-846, Ziyad Duron discussed the methodology developed to monitor vibrations in the structure
induced by fire, was discussed in the Summer 2002 issue of FIRE.GOV.
Go to:
http://www.fire.gov/newsletter/
summer2002/page_three.htm#vibrations.
It does not appear on the DVD, but you may obtain a copy of it by clicking on its title.
To obtain a copy of the DVD, contact David W. Stroup, (1) + 301-975-6564 david.stroup@nist.gov
Firefighters, emergency medical service responders, and law enforcement officers face many hazards when protecting people and property during fires, medical emergencies, and other yet to be determined emergencies. Various forms of personal protective technologies (PPTs), for example, respiratory protection, environmental monitoring, protective garments, and communications equipment, and practices and protocols that focus on safety, can reduce the risk. A new report, Protecting Emergency Responders, Volume 2: Community Views of Safety and Health Risks and Personal Protection
Needs, by Tom LaTourrette, D. J. Peterson, James T. Bartis,
Brian A. Jackson and Art Houser, has been published by RAND as a result of
studies performed with funding from the National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). It is available in paperback or
in PDF; for additional information go to:
http://www.rand.org/publications/
MR/MR1646/ .
The authors interviewed 190 members of the emergency responder community. They identified the protective technology needs of responders and developed an initial personal protective technology research agenda.
To highlight a few of the results, the survey found that there are problems
with component integration and compatibility and the poor functionality of gloves, and the inconsistent sizing of gear among different manufacturers. There is also a need to reduce the heat and physical stress produced by modern bunker gear.
Volume 1 in this series,
Protecting Emergency Responders: Lessons Learned from Terrorist
Attacks was discussed in an earlier issue of FIRE.GOV.
http://www.fire.gov/newsletter/
spring002/page_one.htm .
Both reports are being used by NIOSH to develop an R&D roadmap for personal protective equipment used by emergency responders.
For additional information
go to
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/
nppt/default.html or contact Ron Shaffer
(1) + 412-386-4001,
RShaffer@cdc.gov.
Cover of the RAND report, Protecting Emergency Responders: Volume 2
