This body of work provides detailed information on the nature of the Shenandoah Retirement Home Fire in Roanoke County, Virginia on December 14, 1989. It will assist policymakers who must decide on allocations of resources between fire and other pressing problems, and within the fire service to improve codes and code enforcement, training, public fire education, building technology, and other related areas.

To develop a clear picture of the specific requirements of the rural arson control system, the IAFC conducted in-depth case studies of these systems in four rural counties. The results from visits to rural arson control programs in seven states are incorporated in this report..

Tests were conducted to assess the performance of various residential smoke alarms to kitchen fires and nuisance alarm cooking scenarios. A test structure representing a kitchen, living room and hallway was constructed to conduct the tests. Eight different residential smoke alarms types, two photoelectric models, two ionization models, two dual sensor models, and two multi-sensor, intelligent models were used in this study. The data gathered provided insight into the susceptibility of alarm activation from exposures to typical cooking events and alarm times for actual kitchen fires. The effects on the type of alarm, and its distance from the cooking activity or fire were examined. Combustible materials typically found on a counter top can spread flames to overhead cabinets, and a single empty 0.6 m wide 1.0 m tall cabinet can produce a peak heat release rate nearly sufficient to flashover a small room. A protective metal barrier on the bottom and side facing the range tended to limit the spread of flames to the cabinet and reduce the heat release rate. All smoke alarms responded before hazardous conditions developed. The I1 alarm tended to respond first at a given location. Results show smoke alarms placed at the furthest location may provide less than 120 s of available safe egress time, which suggests a more central alarm location closer to the kitchen for this configuration. Ten cooking activities were examined to determine an alarm s propensity to activate to cooking aerosols. In most cases, the propensity to nuisance alarm decreased as the distance from the cooking source increased. Alarms that rely on sensitive ionization chambers (here I1 and D2) experience more nuisance alarm activations across all cooking activities and locations. All alarms except I1 and D2 experienced about the same nuisance alarm frequency across all cooking activities for locations outside the kitchen.

This Orientation Manual provides practical information: both rescue techniques, and preparedness information for the first responder who will encounter people with visible and non-visible disabilities through their work. This publication can assist first responders in advance or make critical emergency decisions. This publication will help first responders to confidently work with the disability community toward the goal of protecting and saving lives and minimizing trauma.

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) agencies regardless of service delivery model have sought guidance on how to better integrate their emergency preparedness and response activities into similar processes occurring at the local, regional, State, tribal, and Federal levels. This primary purpose of this project is to begin the process of providing that guidance as it relates to mass care incident deployment.

As part of the second needs assessment of the U.S. fire service, a rough comparison was made between needs reported in the first needs assessment survey and resources requested and granted to the same fire departments in 2001-2004 under the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program.

This incident highlights the need for the recognition of the dangers of oxygen-limiting silos regardless of their use and setting. Other issues identified are the need for a hazard and risk assessment process in decisionmaking on the fireground, the importance of site control and accountability, the need for group training in technical rescue operations, the coordination of non-fire department resources and the role of emergency management personnel fulfilling an active role in a unified command structure.

This report continues a series of annual studies by the USFA of on-duty firefighter fatalities in the United States. The USFA is the single public agency source of information for all on-duty firefighter fatalities in the United States each year. The unique and specific objective of this study is to identify all on-duty firefighter fatalities that occurred in the United States and its protectorates in 2001, and to present in summary form the circumstances surrounding each occurrence. The study is intended to help identify approaches that could reduce the number of firefighter deaths in future years. In addition to the 2001 overall findings, this study includes assessments of trends over the past 6 years, as well as special analysis on actions that can immediately impact cardiac health and firefighter safety during emergency operations.

This report continues a series of annual studies by the USFA of on-duty firefighter fatalities in the United States. The USFA is the single public agency source of information for all on-duty firefighter fatalities in the United States each year. The unique and specific objective of this study is to identify all on-duty firefighter fatalities that occurred in the United States and its protectorates in 1996, and to present in summary form the circumstances surrounding each occurrence. The study is intended to help identify approaches that could reduce the number of firefighter deaths in future years. In addition to the 1996 overall findings, this study includes special analyses on violent firefighter deaths, physical fitness and its relation to firefighter deaths, and vehicle accidents.

The specific objective of this study was to identify all of the on-duty firefighter fatalities that occurred in the United States in 1995, and to analyze the circumstances surrounding each occurrence. The study is intended to help identify approaches that could reduce the number of deaths in future years. In addition to the 1995 findings, this study includes a special analysis of the use of personal alert safety devices at fatal structure fires and a special report on several fatalities that occurred during technical rescue operations.

This report delineates the fire risk factors and presents the statistics regarding the fire problem among the elderly in the United States.

March 1987 8 1/2 This body of work provides detailed information on the nature of the fire problem for policymakers who must decide on allocations of resources between fire and other pressing problems, and within the fire service to improve codes and code enforcement, training, public fire education, building technology, and other related area

This guide outlines the essentials for establishing an arson strike force. It begins with a definition of the concept, presents a brief description of how such a unit might respond to an incident, proceeds through the planning steps for single and multi-jurisdictional strike forces, and outlines key elements in their organization and management.

This document discusses emergent health and safety issues for the volunteer fire and emergency services

The purpose of this report is to identify practices that have the potential to decrease the risk, as well as to reduce the number of injuries and deaths that occur while responding to and returning from incidents.

This body of work provides detailed information on the nature of the fire problem for policymakers who must decide on allocations of resources between fire and other pressing problems, and within the fire service to improve codes and code enforcement, training, public fire education, building technology, and other related areas.

The purpose of this U.S. Fire Administration special report is to document the problem of older children who set fires resulting in serious or potentially serious consequences. The report also examines the factors that commonly are associated with intentional firesetting by teenagers and discusses a number of community programs that intervene to control arson.

This document is intended to provide concise practical and technical guidance on arson prosecution. It draws heavily on state arson prosecutors' guides and other literature, and on presentations made at the first in a series of conferences for arson prosecutors at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Clynco, Georgia in November 1985. This document also contains a guide to key literature on arson prosecution. This guide, found in Appendix A, suggests specific readings for prosecutors desiring additional information on the topics discussed in this document. Full citations to materials cited in the text and in the guide to sources by topic may be found in the references at the end of the report.

This report compiles the best practices and common problems of fire protection and criminal justice agencies in identifying, investigating, prosecuting, and preventing arson. Trends, current challenges, and best practices are discussed.

This body of work provides detailed information on the nature of the fire problem for policymakers who must decide on allocations of resources between fire and other pressing problems, and within the fire service to improve codes and code enforcement, training, public fire education, building technology, and other related areas.