The purpose of this manual is to provide the training officer and those who ar responsible within the department to train their vehicle operators with a better understanding of the seriousness of driver training.

The Guide provides a preliminary discussion of sprinkler coverage area, water flow, and water pressure. After this discussion, the Guide is divided into two parts: Part 1: Hydraulic Worksheet and Part 2: Sprinkler Target Zones.

This manual presents guidance for the managers of emergency medical services (EMS) organizations in the recruitment and retention of volunteer personnel.

This report analyzes emergency vehicle visibility and conspicuity with an eye toward expanding efforts in these areas to improve vehicle and roadway operations safety for all emergency responders. Emphasis in this report is placed on passive visibility/conspicuity treatments.

To date, there is no International standard on the methods and tests to assess the verification and validation (V&V) of building fire evacuation models, i.e., model testers adopt inconsistent procedures or tests designed for other model uses. For instance, the tests presented within the MSC/Circ.1238 Guidelines for evacuation analysis for new and existing passenger ships provided by the International Maritime Organization are often employed for the V&V of models outside their original context of use (building fires instead of maritime applications). This document discusses the main issues associated with the definition of a standard procedure for the V&V of building fire evacuation models. A review of the current procedures, tests (e.g. the MSC/Circ.1238 Guidelines), and methods available in the literature to assess the V&V of building evacuation models is provided. The capabilities of building evacuation models are evaluated studying their five main core components, namely 1) Pre-evacuation time, 2) Movement and Navigation, 3) Exit usage, 4) Route availability and 5) Flow constraints. A set of tests and recommendations about the verification of building evacuation models is proposed. Suggestions on simple qualitative validation tests are provided together with examples of experimental data-sets suitable for the analysis of different core components. The uncertainties associated with evacuation modelling are discussed. In particular, a method for the analysis of behavioural uncertainty (uncertainty due to the use of distributions or stochastic variables to simulate human behaviour in evacuation modelling) is presented. The method consists of a set of convergence criteria based on functional analysis. The last part of this document presents a discussion on the definition of the acceptance criteria for a standard V&V protocol.

This report on the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, One Meridian Plaza fire documents one of the most significant highrise fires in U.S. history. 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.

This report addresses risk vs benefit issues associated with the installation of residential fire sprinkler systems. A primary objective of this assessment is to rate the risk of potable water contamination from a residential sprinkler system, and consequently to evaluate the need for installing backflow prevention devices.

Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags have become widely used by industry, retail sales businesses, and government agencies for tracking materials, products, and inventories. This tracking technology is starting to be applied to the management of emergency responder protective equipment items. This technology has potential for helping to manage the use of emergency apparatus and may become a component of human body worn tracking and locating systems. Current standards governing the application of RFID technology are focused on the industrial sector, and no standards exist for use of the technology in the emergency response community. The Building and Fire Research Laboratory (BFRL) has conducted a series of five large scale fire tests to measure the performance of RFID tags in elevated temperature environments that may be produced by structural fires. Passive and active RFID tag designs were evaluated. Data were gathered from each of these large scale fire tests. Additionally, small scale experiments were conducted to better understand the response of these devices when exposed to elevated thermal challenges. Small scale tests were also conducted to develop a basic understanding of RFID tag performance when exposed to conditions representative of wet personal protective clothing. Results from theses evaluations show that RFID tags are thermally sensitive to elevated temperatures, and they can be destroyed if exposed directly to room fire environments. However, results also show that RFID tags may still function if they are protected by insulating materials. Challenges with wet clothing showed that passive RFID tags would not transmit more than a few millimeters when located in a wet garment. Active RFID tags continued to work while contained in wet clothing with a small loss in communications range.

This handbook was created to help women who would like to become career, volunteer, or seasonal firefighters, as well as those who have just started on the job and are seeking guidance. It offers insights and suggestions from women who have been there: female firefighters, officers, and chiefs from all across the country. It attempts to present firefighting as it really is--neither glamorized nor trivialized--and to share answers to questions women commonly have about working in this still nontraditional field.

The purposes of this report include: 1- documenting all fatal crashes involving fire department tankers since 1990; 2- analyzing the causes and common factors associated with these crashes; 3- highlighting pertinent case histories that show examples of the problem; 4- providing information on reducing the frequency of these crashes and minimizing their severity/impact when unavoidable crashes occur; and 5- providing example procedures and checklists to assist departments in reducing the likelihood of tanker crashes.

A fire originating in the compactor chute of a 35-story high-rise apartment building in the Harlem area of New York City caused the deaths of seven building residents. Several code enforcement and fire department operational problems may have contributed to the loss. The U.S. Fire Administration had planned to investigate this fire because of its many important lessons but would only do so with the express permission of appropriate authority. The Fire Department of New York (FDNY) requested that the investigation be delayed until a preliminary internal investigation was completed. When the preliminary FDNY report was issued, the Fire Administration found it to be of such high quality and candor that an additional investigation did not seem likely to add much to the lessons of interest nationally. This report summarizes some of the lessons learned on the FDNY report and discussions with members of the investigation team.

This body of work provides detailed information on the nature of a fire in a Seattle Warehouse in January 1995 where four fire fighters died. This investigation 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.

This report documents the nature of the fire problem in rural areas of the United States. While other studies have explored various aspects of rural fires, this report provides an analysis of both rural fire deaths and the unique characteristics of fires that occur in rural areas. The report is divided into two major parts. The first part uses data from the U.S. Fire Administration's National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) to delineate the character of rural fires. The second part explores rural fire deaths and how they are distributed by age, race, and gender.

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.

This report is part of a series of reports on technical rescue incidents across the United States. The investigation report provides detailed information about the magnitude and nature of the incident; how the response to the incident was carried out and managed; the impact of the incident on emergency responders and the emergency response systems in the community; and the lessons learned.

Three Pittsburgh firefighters died on February 14, 1995, when they ran out of air and were unable to escape from the interior of a burning dwelling. This incident illustrates the need for effective incident management, communications, and personnel accountability systems, even at seemingly routine incidents. It also reinforces the need for regular maintenance and inspection of self-contained breathing apparatus, emphasizes the need for PASS devices to be used at every fire, and identifies the need for training to address firefighter survival in unanticipated emergency situations.

Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) are one of the most important items of personal protective equipment used by firefighters and rescue personnel. SCBA allow firefighters to enter hazardous environments to perform essential interior operations including offensive fire attack, victim search, rescue and removal, ventilation, and overhaul. They are also used at non-fire incidents involving hazardous materials and confined spaces where there is a threat of toxic fumes or an oxygen-deficient atmosphere. There have been several well-documented incidents during the past 10 years where SCBA failure may have been a contributing factor in the deaths or injuries of firefighters . These incidents, coupled with a recognition of the importance of self-contained breathing apparatus to firefighter safety, prompted the United States Fire Administration to undertake this study to address any operations trends associated with SCBA failure incidents, and to identify potential problems requiring correction or further study.

This report characterizes that nature of the fire problem in urban areas of the United States.

This body of work provides detailed information on the nature of the Sherwin-Williams Paint Warehouse Fire In Dayton Ohio on May 27, 1987. 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.

This body of work provides detailed information on the nature of the $15 Million Sight and Sound Theater Fire and Building Collapse in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania on January 28, 1997. 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.

Public Fire Education Planning: A Five-Step Process describes a systematic approach to designing, implementing, and evaluating community safety education programs. This manual will help those of you who are new to community safety education understand some of the basic concepts about how to get started with an organization's community safety education programs. It also will assist you with some hints and techniques on a variety of topics, such as methods for locating partners to assist with community education or techniques for locating resources for your safety programs.

This planning guide will introduce you to a simple, easy-to-use planning process to develop a fire safety program for your community. Since the planning process is based on the experiences of other rural communities, we know all the steps work. Examples throughout the guide will help you apply each step to your community. These examples, along with the other information, make using the steps straightforward. All of the information in this planning guide is based on the U S Fire Administration's (USFA's) booklet Public Fire Education Planning: A Five-Step Process.

In the Spring of 2004, the U S Fire Administration (USFA) partnered with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) in a cooperative agreement project entitled Mitigating the Rural Fire Problem. The purpose of the project was to examine what can be done to reduce the high death rate from fires in rural U S communities

This report includes California's Fire and Rescue Mutual Aid System and its evolution, how mutual aid is used in major fire and non-fire incidents, and discusses some reasons for its success over the years. The purpose of the report is to share lessons learned to help other States advance their systems and give the fire service in general some useful ideas on providing mutual aid.