History of Fire Prevention Week

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

HISTORY OF FIRE PREVENTION WEEK: FIRE PREVENTION WEEK WAS ESTABLISHED TO COMMEMORATE THE GREAT CHICAGO FIRE, THE TRAGIC 1871 CONFLAGRATION THAT KILLED MORE THAN 250 PEOPLE, LEFT 100,000 HOMELESS, DESTROYED MORE THAN 17,400 STRUCTURES AND BURNE3D MORE THAN 2000 ACRES. THE FIRE BEGAN ON OCTOBER 8, BUT CONTINUED INTO AND DID MOST OF ITS DAMAGE ON OCTOBER 9, 1871. ACCORDING TO POPULAR LEGEND, THE FIRE BROKE OUT AFTER A COW – BELONGING TO MRS. CATHRINE O’LEARY – KICKED OVER A LAMP, SETTING FIRST THE BARN, THEN THE WHOLE CITY ON FIRE. THIS CAUSE HAS BEEN LEGEND FOR MORE THAN 130 YEARS, BUT THERE IS NO PROOF. THIS WAS ONE OF THE MAJOR FIRES THAT CHANGED THE WAY THAT FIREFIGHTERS AND PUBLIC OFFICIALS THOUGHT ABOUT FIRE SAFETY. ON THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GREAT CHICAGO FIRE, THE FIRE MARSHALS ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA (KNOWN TODAY AS THE INTERNATIONAL FIRE MARSHALS ASSOCIATION), DECIDED THAT THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE GREAT CHICAGO FIRE SHOULD HENCEFORTH BE OBSERVED NOT WITH FESTIVITIES, BUT IN A WAY THAT WOULD KEEP THE PUBLIC INFORMED ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF FIRE PREVENTION. THE COMMEMORATION GREW INCREMENTALLY OFFICIAL OVER THE YEARS. IN 1920, PRESTIDENT WOODROW WILSON ISSUED THE FIRST NATIONAL FIRE PREVENTION DAY PROCLAMATION, AND SINCE 1922, FIRE PREVENTION WEEK HAS BEEN OBSERVED ON THE SUNDAY THROUGH SATURDAY PERIOD IN WHICH OCTOBER 9 FALLS. THIS IS THE LONGEST RUNNING PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY OBSERVANCE ON RECORD. THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES HAS SIGNED A PROCLAMATION PROCLAIMING A NATIONAL OBSERVANCE DURING THAT WEEK EVERY YEAR SINCE 1925. .

Copy Link

Recommended publications

Federal Funding for Wildfire Control and Management
Federal Funding for Wildfire Control and Management Ross W. Gorte Specialist in Natural Resources Policy July 5, 2011 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov RL33990 CRS Report for Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Federal Funding for Wildfire Control and Management Summary The Forest Service (FS) and the Department of the Interior (DOI) are responsible for protecting most federal lands from wildfires. Wildfire appropriations nearly doubled in FY2001, following a severe fire season in the summer of 2000, and have remained at relatively high levels. The acres burned annually have also increased over the past 50 years, with the six highest annual totals occurring since 2000. Many in Congress are concerned that wildfire costs are spiraling upward without a reduction in damages. With emergency supplemental funding, FY2008 wildfire funding was $4.46 billion, more than in any previous year. The vast majority (about 95%) of federal wildfire funds are spent to protect federal lands—for fire preparedness (equipment, baseline personnel, and training); fire suppression operations (including emergency funding); post-fire rehabilitation (to help sites recover after the wildfire); and fuel reduction (to reduce wildfire damages by reducing fuel levels). Since FY2001, FS fire appropriations have included funds for state fire assistance, volunteer fire assistance, and forest health management (to supplement other funds for these three programs), economic action and community assistance, fire research, and fire facilities. Four issues have dominated wildfire funding debates. One is the high cost of fire management and its effects on other agency programs. Several studies have recommended actions to try to control wildfire costs, and the agencies have taken various steps, but it is unclear whether these actions will be sufficient.
[Show full text]
Wildfires City of Newport Beach, California SECTION 8: WILDFIRES
Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan Section 8 – Wildfires City of Newport Beach, California SECTION 8: WILDFIRES Table of Contents Why Are Wildfires a Threat to Newport Beach? ............................................ 8-1 Historic Fires in Newport Beach and Vicinity ......................................................................... 8-1 Historic Fires in California ............................................................................................................ 8-2 Wildfire Characteristics ..................................................................................... 8-6 The Interface ................................................................................................................................... 8-6 Fuel ..................................................................................................................................................... 8-7 Topography ...................................................................................................................................... 8-7 Weather ............................................................................................................................................ 8-8 Urban Development ....................................................................................................................... 8-8 Wildfire Hazard Identification and Regulatory Context................................. 8-9 HUD Study System .......................................................................................................................
[Show full text]
Fire Department Department Department
FIRE DEPARTMENT Organization Set ––– Sections Organization Set # • Fire Administration & Operations 010101-01 ---15151515----070070 • Fire Prevention & Life Safety 010101-01 ---15151515----073073 As of fiscal year 20082008----2009,2009, the Fire Department was “folded into” the General Fund. Refer to FunFundd ###32#323232 to see thethethe 2008 and 2002007777 ActualsActuals.... 2009 – 2010 Proposed Budget --- Budget Summary General Fund – Fire 2009 – 2010 Fire Department Transition volunteer participation payment for points from a Budget Highlights materials and services payment to McMinnville Fire Volunteers Association to personal services fringe benefits individual Conduct self-assessment to establish risk analysis and develop a payments, meeting the requirements of the IRS. Standard of Coverage document for the Fire Department. This Upgrade the training room to incorporate features necessary for a process will set community and council expectations for more suitable training environment. Upgrades will include a measuring existing service levels and planning for improvement. projector, audio visual screen and audio system. Re-align Fire Department operational staffing using existing personnel and hours to provide for a full time fire engine company, Full-Time Equivalents two 911 emergency ambulances and one 12 hour transfer ambulance. To better use department resources, part time 2008-2009 Change 2009-2010 employees will be transitioned to staffing a transfer ambulance. This allows a fire engine company with three career staff to be FTE Adopted Budget 16.75 available 100% of the time and provides an opportunity to Firefighter / Paramedic - PT+ - 0.18 integrate volunteers and students on the fire engine 24 hours a Extra Help - Drill Night + 0.01 day. The result will be more consistent staffing with faster Extra Help - Fire + 0.41 response times and a simplified internal scheduling process.
[Show full text]
Defining Extreme Wildfire Events: Difficulties, Challenges, and Impacts
fire Concept Paper Defining Extreme Wildfire Events: Difficulties, Challenges, and Impacts Fantina Tedim 1,2,*, Vittorio Leone 3,†, Malik Amraoui 4 ID , Christophe Bouillon 5 ID , Michael R. Coughlan 6 ID , Giuseppe M. Delogu 7,† ID , Paulo M. Fernandes 4 ID , Carmen Ferreira 1 ID , Sarah McCaffrey 8 ID , Tara K. McGee 9, Joana Parente 4, Douglas Paton 2, Mário G. Pereira 4,10 ID , Luís M. Ribeiro 11 ID , Domingos X. Viegas 11 and Gavriil Xanthopoulos 12 1 Centre for Studies in Geography and Spatial Planning, CEGOT, Geography Department, Faculty of Arts, University of Porto, Porto 4150-564, Portugal; [email protected] 2 Engineering Health Science & Environment, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory 0909, Australia; [email protected] 3 Department of Crop Systems, Forestry and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Basilicata, Potenza 85100, Italy; [email protected] 4 Centre for Research and Technology of Agro-Environment and Biological Sciences, CITAB, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Vila Real 5001-801, Portugal; [email protected] (M.A.); [email protected] (P.M.F.); [email protected] (J.P.); [email protected] (M.G.P.) 5 National Research Institute of Science and Technology for Environment and Agriculture, IRSTEA, RECOVER Research Unit, Aix-en-Provence 13100, France; [email protected] 6 Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA; [email protected] 7 Regional Forest Corps of Sardinia, Cagliari 09131, Italy; [email protected] 8 USDA Forest
[Show full text]
CFAST – Consolidated Model of Fire Growth and Smoke Transport (Version 6) Software Development and Model Evaluation Guide
NIST Special Publication 1086r1 December 2012 Revision CFAST – Consolidated Model of Fire Growth and Smoke Transport (Version 6) Software Development and Model Evaluation Guide Richard D. Peacock Paul A. Reneke http://dx.doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.1086r1 NIST Special Publication 1086r1 December 2012 Revision CFAST – Consolidated Model of Fire Growth and Smoke Transport (Version 6) Software Development and Model Evaluation Guide Richard D. Peacock Paul A. Reneke Fire Research Division Engineering Laboratory http://dx.doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.1086r1 March 2013 SV N Re posit ory Revision : 507 T OF C EN OM M M T E R R A C P E E D U N A I C T I E R D E M ST A ATES OF U.S. Department of Commerce Rebecca Blank, Acting Secretary National Institute of Standards and Technology Patrick D. Gallagher, Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and Director Disclaimer The U. S. Department of Commerce makes no warranty, expressed or implied, to users of CFAST and associated computer programs, and accepts no responsibility for its use. Users of CFAST assume sole responsibility under Federal law for determining the appropriateness of its use in any particular application; for any conclusions drawn from the results of its use; and for any actions taken or not taken as a result of analyses performed using these tools. CFAST is intended for use only by those competent in the field of fire safety and is intended only to supplement the informed judgment of a qualified user. The software package is a computer model which may or may not have predictive value when applied to a specific set of factual circumstances.
[Show full text]
Wildfire Damages to Homes and Resources: Understanding Causes and Reducing Losses
Wildfire Damages to Homes and Resources: Understanding Causes and Reducing Losses Kelsi Bracmort Specialist in Agricultural Conservation and Natural Resources Policy March 12, 2012 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov RL34517 CRS Report for Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Wildfire Damages to Homes and Resources: Understanding Causes and Reducing Losses Summary Wildfires are getting more severe, with more acres and houses burned and more people at risk. This results from excess biomass in the forests, due to past logging and grazing and a century of fire suppression, combined with an expanding wildland-urban interface—more people and houses in and near the forests—and climate change, exacerbating drought and insect and disease problems. Some assert that current efforts to protect houses and to reduce biomass (through fuel treatments, such as thinning) are inadequate, and that public objections to some of these activities on federal lands raise costs and delay action. Others counter that proposals for federal lands allow timber harvesting with substantial environmental damage and little fire protection. Congress is addressing these issues through various legislative proposals and through funding for protection programs. Wildfires are inevitable—biomass, dry conditions, and lightning create fires. Some are surface fires, which burn needles, grasses, and other fine fuels and leave most trees alive. Others are crown fires, which are typically driven by high winds and burn biomass at all levels from the ground through the tree tops. Many wildfires contain areas of both surface and crown fires. Surface fires are relatively easy to control, but crown fires are difficult, if not impossible, to stop; often, crown fires burn until they run out of fuel or the weather changes.
[Show full text]
National Protocols for Response to Violent Incidents Should Be Developed and Championed
12 National protocols for response to violent incidents should be developed and championed. Executive Summary Fire departments respond, in various capacities and roles, to incidents caused by violent acts. They also encounter violent persons at what was to be an ordinary incident. In order to ensure that we meet our mission, to make sure everyone goes home, everyday, we offer the following strategies designed to reduce the likelihood of injury or death from responding to incidents of violence. • Improved understanding and application of Dynamic Risk Management • Initiate or improve communication with the local law enforcement component. • Define and expand role of dispatchers in reducing risk • Prohibit single (person) resource response to violent incidents • Require use of an Incident Management System • Communicate directly with Law Enforcement component prior to operating at an incident of violence. • De-commit personnel and equipment and leave if violence commences or reoccurs during fire department operations • Obtain stakeholder understanding and buy-in of response and deployment policies including non-response and non-engagement at incidents of violence. The implementation of these strategies will help reduce the likelihood of fire service members being injured or killed during a response to a violent incident. The 12th Initiative expands our understanding of how and where firefighters can be injured and demonstrates the need for the development of national protocols regarding violent incidents. Issue Description From the beginning of America’s fire service, firefighters have been responding to incidents that were the result of, or caused by, an act of violence. Fire departments respond to a wide range of events from the simple Saturday night altercation at the corner bar, to the large events whose place in history has been distilled to unforgettable images: Watts, Columbine, Oklahoma City, or 9/11.
[Show full text]
Sffd | New Fire Boat Station 35 at Pier 22.5
SFFD | NEW FIRE BOAT STATION 35 AT PIER 22.5 MARITIME COMMERCE ADVISORY COMMITTEE – SEPTEMBER 21, 2017 BAYSIDE CONFERENCE ROOM, PIER 1, THE EMBARCADERO, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94111 AGENDA: • ESER 2014 Background • Site and Project History • Design-Build Procurement • Project Approach Building Design & Construction NEW FIRE BOAT STATION 35 AT PIER 22.5 Project Management Maritime Commerce Advisory Committee | September 21, 2017 1 ESER 2014 BACKGROUND ESER Program Project Map $400M General Obligation Bond authorized in June 2014 with approval by 79% of voters • Neighborhood Fire Stations $85M • Emergency Firefighting Water System $55M • District Police Stations and Infrastructure $30M • Motorcycle Police and Crime Lab $165M • Medical Examiner Facility $65M Building Design & Construction NEW FIRE BOAT STATION 35 AT PIER 22.5 Project Management Maritime Commerce Advisory Committee | September 21, 2017 2 COLLABORATION AMONG CITY DEPARTMENTS Building Design & Construction NEW FIRE BOAT STATION 35 AT PIER 22.5 Project Management Maritime Commerce Advisory Committee | September 21, 2017 3 PARTNERING Partnering Level 3 • External Professional Neutral Facilitator • Kick-off Partnering Workshop • Partnering Charter and Mission Statement • Partnering Sessions • Design Phase • Construction Phase • Executive Group • From senior most levels of City and Design-Builder organizations • Stakeholder Group • Resolution Ladder • Quarterly Project Scorecards • International Partnering Institute Members • San Francisco Public Works • Swinerton Builders • “A Mini
[Show full text]
The Oakland-Berkeley Hills Fire of 19911
PLENARY SESSION—ISSUES 6 USDA Forest Service Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-158. 1995. The Biswell Symposium: Fire Issues and Solutions in Urban Interface and Wildland Ecosystems Plenary Session—Issues The Oakland-Berkeley Hills Fire of 19911 P. Lamont Ewell2 unday, October 20, 1991, will be remembered as the night. Fire crews had returned that morning to check for any Sdate of America’s most costly urban-wildland fire (FEMA hot spots and to pick up equipment, and were on the scene 1992) and one of the worst fires involving loss of life and for 2 hours before the fire suddenly escaped the area of property since the Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire origin because of high winds. of 1906 (OFD 1992). Eyewitness accounts testify that a sole ember blew into The magnitude and range of what is simply referred to a tree just outside the burn area, and the tree exploded into as the “Tunnel Fire” is far beyond the experience of any flames. The resulting fire was quickly out of control—raging living American firefighter. Only those who fought the around and over firefighters who were suddenly fighting for Chicago Fire last century and those who battled the Great their lives. Over the course of the next several days, the fire Fire in San Francisco would be able to identify with this would leave 25 dead, 150 injured, and a total of 3,810 conflagration and firestorm. dwelling units destroyed. The fire, which burned over 1,500 A firestorm is defined as a fire which creates its own acres within an area of 5.25 square miles, would result in weather.
[Show full text]
ECONOMICHISTORY Conflagration in Baltimore by KARL RHODES
ECONOMICHISTORY Conflagration in Baltimore BY KARL RHODES n a cold Sunday morning in 1,500 buildings on 86 city blocks in The 1904 disaster February 1904, a small ember the heart of what was then America’s was a turning Oor spark ignited packing cases sixth-largest city. Miraculously, the fire in the basement of the “fire-proof” killed only four or five people, but point for U.S. fire Hurst building in downtown Baltimore. it left 35,000 people jobless. Damage Firefighters arrived quickly and broke estimates reached as high as $100 million prevention down a door, creating a backdraft that — more than $2.6 billion in today’s whisked superheated air up the build- dollars. ing’s unprotected elevator shaft and In the 19th century and early 20th central staircase. The firemen heard century, conflagration was a constant doors slamming shut on the upper floors threat to American cities, primarily of the six-story headquarters of John E. because they had been built more quickly Hurst and Company. Then they heard and cheaply than their European coun- an “ominous rumbling.” terparts. American fires consumed large The firemen retreated to the street amounts of capital each year. One esti- minutes before an ear-splitting explo- mate in 1910 put the average annual “fire sion blew the roof off the building, show- waste” at $500 per minute in the United ering adjacent structures with flaming States, which would be about $12,340 per debris. As more firefighters rushed to minute in today’s dollars. the scene, a hook-and-ladder wagon “How absurd it is that we have fires zoomed past a nearby church, catching to-day!” wrote Maynard Metcalf in the the attention of Reverend D’Aubigny, July 1916 issue of Scientific Monthly.
[Show full text]
Fire Service Mobilization Plan 2013
Office of State Fire Marshal Fire Service Mobilization Plan 2013 OREGON FIRE SERVICE MOBILIZATION PLAN Compiled and published by: OFFICE OF STATE FIRE MARSHAL 4760 Portland Road NE Salem, Oregon 97305-1760 503-378-3473 John Kitzhaber Governor Richard Evans Jr. Superintendent of State Police Mark Wallace State Fire Marshal With the advice and consent of: The Oregon State Fire Defense Board Oregon Fire Service Mobilization Plan Table of Contents Page No. A. Introduction 1 B. Unprotected Areas Policy 6 C. Resource Management 7 D. Requesting Resources 8 E. Sending Resources 13 F. Incident Support 16 G. Demobilization 19 List of Appendices 22 A. Fire Defense Board District and Chief Responsibilities 23 B. Mutual Aid 29 C. Fiscal Responsibility 36 D. Transportation Cost Schedule 46 E. Glossary 49 F. Interface Position Qualifications 62 G. Interface Equipment Standards 63 H. Communications 68 I. Task Force/Strike Team Resources 74 J. Emergency and Audible Signaling/Terminology 75 K. Conflagration Request Packet 76 L. Conflagration Request Forms 87 OPERATIONS DIVISION 2013 A. INTRODUCTION 1. Objectives The objectives of the Oregon Fire Service Mobilization Plan are: a) To provide organizational structure and operating guidelines for the expeditious mobilization and direction of Oregon fire service forces; b) To promote effective communication among agencies during the preparation for, progress of, and demobilization from a fire suppression operation or other emergency response activity; c) To effectively cooperate and coordinate the efforts of various participating agencies through the use of a common command structure and terminology; d) To ensure prompt, accurate and equitable apportionment of fiscal responsibility for fire suppression or other emergency response activity; e) To provide an OSFM Incident Management Team for effective support to local agencies and fire defense districts during major operations.
[Show full text]
The Early History of the Bamberg Fire Department (1869- 1925) the Story of Bamberg and the Ultimate Evolution of Fire Protec
The Early History of The Bamberg Fire Department (1869- 1925) The story of Bamberg and the ultimate evolution of fire protection in that town goes back to the approach of the mid-1800s. South Carolina’s history is chockfull of stories of how the backcountry or inland areas of the state really began to open up to colonial frontiersmen, especially at the turn of the 19th century. The early settlers to this Coastal Plains’ section were mainly Germans, Swiss, Scots-Irish, English and French Huguenots. These newcomers had to make friends with the Edisto tribe of Indians who once roamed, hunted and lived in the area. We, also, know that the village of Bamberg was settled in large measure by Major William Seaborn Bamberg who came to the area in the 1840s. According to local archives, Mr. Bamberg was an influential businessman who used that influence to incorporate that little community when it was no more than a country crossroads. The original charter to the Town of Bamberg was on December 19, 1855. And, in 1860, the town boasted a population of about 250 residents. The County Court House wasn’t built until 1897, and the Bamberg Cotton Mill became the principal employer, next to farming, in 1892. Sadly, the little Town of Bamberg had much in common with so many other communities, villages, towns, and cities of that day and time which experienced regular and repeated visits from what many have called “The Fire Fiend.” The author, Nancy Backes, said “Americans had for many years helplessly watched their little wooden towns burn and be rebuilt and burn again.” Bamberg was certainly no different, and out of necessity, these frequent fires brought attention to the need to better defend its citizens and their properties from the ravages of unwanted fires.
[Show full text]