All participating departments receive customized reports of their safety culture scores and, where applicable, scores by individual stations within their department. As appropriate, fire departments will be able to benchmark their scores to departments in their FEMA region and to similar departments throughout the US.
2022 ended with a total, as of 26 December, of 96 on-duty deaths as defined and recorded by the United States Fire Administration (USFA)[1]. Of those 96, nine (9%) were interior fatalities. For providing specific data, I define interior deaths as those on the fireground that are traumatic versus those that are medical in the …
FIREFIGHTER LODD DATA 2022– Not Drama…Just The Facts…. Read More »
On this episode of Tech Speak, join S&T in Harbison State Forest, South Carolina, as we test a newly designed respirator tailored to help wildland firefighters breathe easier. These firefighters must travel light and work long days in remote conditions with little to no respiratory protection. They not only battle smoke, dust and flames, but …
The average number of reported residential building fires on Thanksgiving Day was more than double (2.3 times more) the average number of fires in residential buildings on all other days. Cooking was, by far, the leading cause of all Thanksgiving Day fires in residential buildings at 74% followed by heating at 8%.
In a recent poll, an overwhelming majority of FireRescue1 readers said their department was not considering the purchase or even researching the possibility of adding an electric apparatus to their fleet. The resistance and skepticism surrounding the topic is not surprising, said FireRescue1 Executive Editor Chief Marc Bashoor: “By nature, most of us are slow …
Poll call: Is your department considering an electric apparatus purchase? Read More »
A recent report on the profession argues that fire investigation can still be more art than science, with a lack of consistency, no system of peer review, and no higher-education requirements for investigators. On today’s podcast, we talk about fire investigation with one of the experts who helped write that report. We discuss where the …
Changes in construction, fuel characteristics and compartment properties resulted in data that show the need for changes in the way that fire departments operate on today’s fireground. For a department to survive within these changing parameters, it must change how it operates. Progress in any organization or function is impossible without change, and the successes …
Fire Studies: The Rules of Engagement Are Changing Read More »
In 2021, local fire departments responded to an estimated 1.35 million fires in the United States. These fires caused 3,800 civilian fire deaths and 14,700 reported civilian fire injuries. The property damage caused by these fires was estimated at $15.9 billion.
In late August, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a preliminary document, which indicated the agency wants to classify “forever chemicals” as hazardous substances. These perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) are part of EPA’s overall effort to address per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — known as PFAS. EPA says PFOAs and PFOSs are two of the …
Will Hazmat Teams be Affected by EPA ‘Forever Chemical’ Rule Changes? Read More »
Demographically speaking, our nation’s fire departments are not diverse. Consider the following workforce statistics from 2019 reported by Data USA: 95.8% of firefighters were male. 79.9% of firefighters were white and non-Hispanic. Many communities have started improving their efforts to recruit a more diverse workforce. For these programs to succeed, it’s important to recognize two …
The Benefits and Importance of Diversity in the Fire Service Read More »
