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There currently is a big discussion if these Liquid
CO-2 tanks found in fast food and convenience stores
are DOT regulated or will they become a
"jurisdictional object" like and air tank or boiler
of similar size would.
The CO-2 industry is fighting any regulation, so as
emergency responders we MUST learn from the Phoenix
incident and others which are continuing to be
reported.
Take a very close look at this YouTube video and be
safe out there!!
Richard Campbell Awards
Close
- May 15, 2013
Applications can be
found at the "Awards
Page" Link found in the
Left Column
Proposed
By-Law Changes
First Proposal
Allows for a change
in the Fiscal Year
T
he
Following is the
proposed change to the
SCSAFC By-Laws, to be
considered during the
68th Annual Leadership
Conference in Myrtle
Beach on June 10 - 13,
2013.
CURRENT
WORDING:
SECTION 1 – DUES
Changes in the Dues
structure shall be voted
on at the Annual
Conference and approved
by at least a 3/4
majority of the voting
members present at the
annual conference.
Annual dues shall be due
by the first day of the
fiscal year July. There
shall be a 90 day grace
period after the first
day of fiscal year July
after which a member
will be dropped from the
roles of the
Association, and shall
lose continuity. Dues
shall be current to
enjoy voting privileges
at any annual conference
or meeting of this
Association.
SECTION 2 -
FISICAL YEAR
The fiscal year shall be
that period between July
1 and June 30 of each
and every year.
PROPOSED
NEW WORDING:
SECTION 1 – DUES
Annual dues
shall be due by the
first day of July. There
shall be a 90 day grace
period after the first
day of July after which
a member will be dropped
from the roles of the
Association, and shall
lose continuity. Dues
shall be current to
enjoy voting privileges
at any annual conference
or meeting of this
Association.
SECTION 2- FISCAL YEAR
The fiscal year shall be
that period between
October 1 and September
30 of each and every
year.
NOTE: This change would
allow
our budget year to
coincide with the
Firefighters
Association. The auditor
needs to keep us on the
same budget year since
we are currently audited
with them. This allows
our book keeper to
manage our records and
maintain integrity with
both
Second Proposal
Allows the SEAFC
Director Position to be
Selected by the
Executive Committee
T
he
Following is the
proposed change to the
SCSAFC By-Laws, to be
considered during the
68th Annual Leadership
Conference in Myrtle
Beach on June 10 - 13,
2013.
CURRENT WORDING:
SECTION 3 –
OFFICER ELIGIBILITY
Any member considering
seeking election to the
office of SC State
Director to the SEAFC
shall make his or her
intentions to run known,
in writing, to the
Executive Director of
the Chiefs Association
prior to, the January
meeting of the year and,
the Executive Director
shall read the intent
letter to the membership
at that meeting. This is
the only time that this
can be done and shall be
called the A "Official
Intent to Hold Office
Communication" for the
State Director position.
Nominations shall only
be accepted from the
floor at the meeting
prior to the vote if no
candidate has made
his/her intention known
to seek the position at
that time.
PROPOSED NEW WORDING:
SECTION 2 –
OFFICER ELIGIBILITY Any member
considering seeking
election to the office
of SC State Director to
the SEAFC shall make his
or her intentions to run
known, in writing, to
the Executive Director
of the Chiefs
Association prior to,
the January meeting of
the year and, the
Executive Director shall
read the intent letter
to the membership at
that meeting. This is
the only time that this
can be done and shall be
called the A "Official
Intent to Hold Office
Communication" for the
State Director position.
Nominations shall only
be accepted from the
floor at the meeting
prior to the selection
if no candidate has made
his/her intention known
to seek the position at
that time. The SC
Director shall be
selected by the
Executive Committee.
A)
The SEAFC Director will
be appointed by the
Executive Board after
letters of intent have
been submitted or
nominations have been
made from the floor.
Doug
Eggiman of Midway Fire &
Rescue has been Elected
to the position of SEAFC
Director
SC FireWire Blog Update
E-Plan Response Tool
Losing Funding
May 09, 2013 03:34 pm |
Charlie King
Many
of you may know, some
may not, but we are
about to lose a
significant response
tool in South Carolina.
Several years ago S.C.
DHEC began utilizing the
E-Plan database to
manage facility Tier II
chemical information.
E-Plan was a project
created by the
University of Dallas at
Texas and fully funded
by DHS in 2008. Prior to
the implementation of
this resource in S.C.,
state and local
government responders
had to intake and manage
thousands of pages of
facility information
that typically never
made into the hands of
first responders.
Utilizing E-Plan,
facilities were able to
submit their required
information
electronically into a
secure web-based program
that gave local
responders immediate
access to time critical
information in the
field. Information
available from the
program included
facility site data,
contact information,
chemical hazards,
storage quantities,
weather and mapping
tools. Users also had
the ability to quickly
export this information
to integrate into
third party software
such as CAMEO, WISER and
PEAC. I hope you
understand how critical
this information is to
every first responder.
This program’s funding
was recently cut by DHS,
which means it will not
be available after
August 1, 2013.
Responders in S.C. need
this capability. I spoke
with mangers of E-Plan,
and they state there is
no avenue for permanent
funding on their end and
they don’t anticipate
the program “being
saved.” Representatives
from DHEC are beginning
to research other
databases that are
capable of managing the
information and support
the needs of first
responders. They hope to
have an answer by
January 1. We have asked
to be included in the
research of new
products. The big issue
is that there is no
funding to implement a
new database if one is
found. There are several
options for funding that
others have implemented
to make the programs
self-sustaining.
I
encourage all users (and
those who are not) to
log into E-Plan and
download as much of your
local information as
possible prior to August
1. This will give you
the ability to use the
excel downloads as you
see fit locally. We will
continue to work closely
with DHEC to find a
solution to ensure
responders have access
to time critical
chemical information in
their area. Have a safe
weekend. CVK
ALERT FROM THE NATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF STATE
FIRE MARSHALS
Sky Lantern Fires
The NASFM is
preparing to draft a
petition to the CPSC
requesting a ban on
these uncontrolled
open flame devices.
We need your help
with information on
the following:
Fire incidents in
your area with
detail attach an
incident report if
possible.
Any deaths
associated with a
fire investigation
involving a sky
lantern.
Any injuries
associated with a
fire investigation
involving a sky
lantern.
Any documented
complaints.
Please send
information on
present and future
incidents directly
to Karen Deppa at
the NASFM Washington
office
LETTER OF INTENT TO RUN FOR SCSAFC 3rd VICE-PRESIDENT in 2013
LETTER OF INTENT TO RUN FOR SCSAFC 3rd VICE-PRESIDENT in 2013
LETTER OF INTENT TO RUN
FOR SCSAFC 3rd
VICE-PRESIDENT in 2013
Memorandum
To:
S.C. Association of Fire
Chiefs
From:
Phill Jolley, Fire Chief
Pelham Batesville Fire
Department
Date:
6/18/2012
Re:
Announcing my candidacy
for 3rd
Vice-President 2013
I would
like to take this
opportunity to thank you
for your participation
at our recent conference
in Myrtle Beach. This
event marked a milestone
for our Association and
was one of our best
attended conferences in
our history. As a member
of our Association for
more than 20 years I
strongly support keeping
our conference and the
FF Association
Conference together and
I applaud the work of
our Executive Committee
and the others who
worked so hard to make
this happen. I have
heard nothing but
positive feedback from
other members, vendors
and others who agree.
My only
other thought is let’s
make it even better in
the future and toward
that goal I am
announcing my candidacy
for 3rd
Vice President of the
Association in 2013. I
believe that each of us
should work to continue
to make our Association
stronger and pledge to
you to do everything
possible to make that
happen.
Other
areas that I believe we
need to work on are;
1) Continue to build our
membership numbers.
2) Carry forward our
recent decision to raise
dues incrementally so
that we will be able
to offer more to our
membership.
3) Work together with
all of our other state
associations.
4) Develop and implement
a Chiefs Mentoring
program.
5) Promote our
Association to be more
involved in regional and
national associations
like the SEAFC and IAFC.
Again, I
pledge to each of you my
cooperation, diligence
and experience to take
our organization to a
higher level of
professionalism and
position in all that we
do.
Phill Jolley
The Emergency
Response Guidebook (ERG) is developed jointly by the US Department of
Transportation (DOT), Transport Canada, and the Secretariat of Communications
and Transportation of Mexico (SCT). The ERG is intended to be used by
firefighters, police, and other emergency services personnel who may be the
first to arrive at the scene of a transportation incident involving hazardous
material. It is primarily a guide to aid first responders in (1) quickly
identifying the specific or generic classification of the material(s) involved
in an incident, and (2) protecting themselves and the general public during the
initial response phase of the incident. The ERG is updated every four years to
accommodate new products and technology. DOT Distributed Over 2 Million 2012
Emergency Response Guidebooks to State Coordinators beginning in late May 2012.
DOT's goal is to
place an ERG in each emergency service vehicle, nationwide, through distribution
to state and local public safety authorities. To date, nearly 11 million copies
have been distributed without charge to the emergency response community. Copies
are made available to public emergency responders through State Coordinators
in the United States of America. Copies also are available commercially through
the GPO Bookstore and
other commercial vendors. For a PC download of the 2008 ERG and more information
from Transport Canada please see:
http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/canutec/guide-menu-227.htm.
The new 2012
Emergency
Response
Guidebooks (ERG)
are available.
Below is a link
to a short
training video
that would be
good to review
as department or
company
training.
Live burn to highlight importance of home fire sprinklers
May 21, 2012– Fire in the home poses one of the biggest threats to the people of your community. According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), U.S. fire departments responded to roughly 380,000 home structure fires per year during 2006-2010. Average annual losses in these fires were:
·Roughly 2,700 civilian fire deaths
·Roughly 13,000 civilian fire injuries
·$7.6 billion in direct damage
·A dozen firefighters killed
Ninety-two percent of all structure fire deaths resulted from home fires. On average, seven people a day die in U.S. house fires. Home fire sprinkler systems are designed to reduce these tragic statistics.
Firefighters from around the state will gather at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 22, 2012 at the Irmo Fire Department, 6017 St. Andrews Road, Columbia, S.C., to kick off “Faces of Fire” of South Carolina. This is a state-wide campaign to educate the public on the life safety and other benefits of the required fire sprinkler protection for single family dwellings in all national model codes.
What: Public safety campaign kick-off and live fire demonstration
Where: Irmo Fire Department, 6017 St. Andrews Road, Columbia, S.C.
When: Tuesday, May 22, 2012 - 2:00 PM
A public campaign, featuring South Carolinians telling their stories of fire, loss, and recovery resulting from fire incidents in their homes, and consisting of billboard and video public service announcements, side-by-side burn demonstrations, and other events, will be unveiled.
As a way of showing how quickly fire spreads and the life and property saving value of fire sprinklers, South Carolina Fire and Life Safety Education Association (FALSE) will intentionally light two fires in front of a live audience. Each room will contain common furnishings, window treatments and a working smoke alarm. Only one of the rooms contains a fire sprinkler.
Facts about home fire sprinkler systems:
·Your risk of dying if a home fire occurs decreases by about 80 percent when fire sprinklers are
present.
·Fire sprinklers are supplied by household water – usually off the existing domestic water supply.
Just like ordinary plumbing, sprinkler system piping is hidden behind walls and ceilings.
·Sprinklers are activated only by the high temperature of a fire – typically between 135°-165°F.
·Burned toast or other smoke cannot set off a sprinkler; neither can a smoke alarm that activates.
·Sprinklers are designed to flow between 10-25 gallons of water per minute. That’s about 10-
15 times less water flow than fire department hoses, and under far less pressure.
·Fire sprinklers control or extinguish a fire often before the fire department arrives.
·Fire sprinklers give family members more time to get out safely, saving lives.
NFPA is proud to work in partnership with the South Carolina State Firefighters Association, the South Carolina Sprinkler Coalition and the South Carolina Fire and Life Safety Association, to bring this important educational opportunity to South Carolina.
Contacts: Randy Safer, NFPA Regional Director – Cell Phone: 615-519-4659
Joe H. Palmer, ED, SC State Firefighters’ Association – 803-454-1808
The Public Information Officer for this event is Joe Palmer. He may be reached at 803-454-1808.
About the Fire Sprinkler Initiative: Bringing Safety Home
The Fire Sprinkler Initiative, a project of the National Fire Protection Association, is a nationwide effort to encourage the use of home fire sprinklers and the adoption of fire sprinkler requirements for new construction.
Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety
Administration 2013
Budget Request Focuses
on Increased Safety &
Accountability
Funds
for More Pipeline
Inspectors& Hazmat
Investigators
WASHINGTON
(Monday, February 13,
2012) – The Fiscal Year
2013 President’s Budget
requests $276 million
and 647 positions
for the Pipeline and
Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration (PHMSA)
to improve safety and
increase accountability
by hiring more
inspectors, increasing
coordination with states
and educating the
public.
“President Obama’s
budget for the
Department of
Transportation
demonstrates our
commitment to investing
in an America that is
built to last,�¯ said
Secretary LaHood. “Last
year we made a promise
to the American people
that we would help make
our utility lines the
safest and most reliable
in the world. President
Obama’s plan will enable
us to deliver on that
promise and ensure that
we have the
infrastructure we need
for tomorrow while
putting people back to
work today.�¯
The budget request
supports the 2011
Pipeline Safety,
Regulatory Certainty and
Job Creation Act. It
will also build upon
safety initiatives such
as Secretary LaHood’s
Pipeline Safety Action
Plan and his Call to
Action, in which he
called upon the nation’s
pipeline operators to
repair, replace and
rehabilitate the
nation’s aging pipeline
infrastructure.
“We have closed a record
number of enforcement
orders for the past
three years, but we have
more work to do to,�¯
said PHMSA Administrator
Cynthia Quarterman. “The
2013 budget request will
help build upon these
efforts to protect
communities and increase
oversight over the
commercial
transportation of
hazardous materials by
air, rail, vessel,
highway and pipeline.�¯
The funds include more
grants for states to
ensure higher safety
standards, more pipeline
inspectors to increase
oversight, additional
safety and emergency
resonder training, and
more tools for public
education through the
National Pipeline
Information Exchange.
The FY 2013 request is
an increase of nearly
$75 million above FY
2012 enacted levels.
The Pipeline and
Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration (PHMSA)
develops and enforces
regulations for the
safe, reliable, and
environmentally sound
operation of the
nation's 2.6 million
mile pipeline
transportation system
and the nearly 1 million
daily shipments of
hazardous materials by
land, sea, and air.
PHMSA is one of 13
agencies within the U.S.
Department of
Transportation. Please
visit
http://phmsa.dot.gov
for more information.
For further information:
Contact: Jeannie Layson
Tel: 202-366-4831
SOUTH CAROLINA FALLEN
FIREFIGHTER
MEMORIAL TEE SHIRT STILL
AVAILABLE
The South Carolina Fallen
Firefighter Memorial Tees
Shirt has been unveiled. The
shirts, available in Black
or Navy Blue, have the SC
Fallen Firefighter Memorial
Logo on the left breast
front and, the list of all
of the South Carolina
Firefighters who have given
their lives in the Line of
Duty as memorialized on the
Memorial Wall.
The Shirts have been
delivered to the South
Carolina Firefighters
Association Office and, are
available for sale. The
profit from the sales will
go to maintain the SC Fallen
Firefighter Memorial Plaza
at the South Carolina Fire
Academy.
They will be at the
Southeastern Fire School as
the first public event, but
can make them available to
anyone today! Prices are
$12.00 for Small, Medium,
Large and, Extra-large.
Prices are $15.00 for 2XL
and 3XL.
NFPA issues safety alert on
SCBA facepiece lenses
SCBA facepiece lenses may
undergo thermal degradation
when exposed to intense heat
The National Fire Protection
Association (NFPA) today
issued a safety alert on
Self-Contained Breathing
Apparatus (SCBA) facepiece
lenses. Among other things,
NFPA is recommending that
fire departments, fire
academies, and emergency
service organizations
inspect all SCBA facepiece
lenses before and after each
use. Any SCBA facepiece lens
found to have cracks,
crazing, bubbling,
deformation, discoloring,
gaps or holes should be
immediately removed from
service and a replacement
issued.
The alert comes after
investigations and
additional research found
SCBA facepiece lenses may
undergo thermal degradation
when exposed to intense
heat. The full alert and
recommendations can be found
at
www.nfpa.org/scba.
“SCBA is a critical
component in the personal
protective equipment (PPE)
used by today’s fire
service. This equipment is
essential for allowing
firefighters to operate in
hostile fire ground
environments. However, in
recent decades there have
been significant changes in
the environments encountered
by structural firefighters
and in how they operate in
those environments,” said
Kenneth Willette, division
director of Public Fire
Protection at NFPA. “The
SCBA facepiece lens is
generally based on
polycarbonate. The SCBA
facepiece lens is often
considered the weakest
component of a firefighter’s
ensemble in high heat
conditions, but the level of
thermal performance of the
facepiece lens has not been
well understood. “
During the investigation of
firefighter fatalities that
occurred from 2002 to 2011,
the National Institute for
Occupational Safety and
Health (NIOSH) found
evidence of thermal
degradation of facepiece
lenses that may have been a
contributing factor in three
fatalities. NIOSH also
reportedon the
investigation of three SCBA
from a state training
academy where the SCBA
facepiece lens showed
evidence of thermal
degradation after being used
in live fire training.
Additionally, in four other
NIOSH Line of Duty Death
Investigations, the
evidence, while not
conclusive was suggestive of
possible SCBA degradation or
failure.
The concerns with facepiece
lenses identified in the
NIOSH investigations werebrought to the attention
of the NFPA Technical
Committee on Respiratory
Protection Equipment by the
National Institute of
Standards and Technology
(NIST) and the NIOSH
Division of Safety Research,
Fire Fighter Fatality
Investigation and Prevention
Program.
In addition, in 2010 NIST,
NIOSH, the Fire Protection
Research Foundation (FPRF)
and NFPA jointly hosted a
research planning workshop
on evaluating and addressing
the concerns regarding the
thermal impact of SCBA
facepiece lenses.
Subsequently, NIST developed
and provided new testing and
performance methodologies to
the NFPA Technical Committee
on Respiratory Protection
Equipment. Based on the
information learned from the
NIOSH investigations and
NIST research, this
Technical Committee is in
the process of incorporating
new test methods and
performance and criteria for
facepiece lenses into the
proposed 2013 edition of
NFPA 1981, Standard on
Open-Circuit Self-Contained
Breathing Apparatus (SCBA)
for Emergency Service
which is slated for
completion and issuance as
early as the Fall of 2012.
Information on the
continuing development of
this new edition is
available at
http://www.nfpa.org/1981next.
NFPA recommends:
·SCBA facepiece
lenses showing evidence of
exposure to intense heat is
an indication of thermal
degradation and potential
failure. In addition
to complying with the
Inspection, Repair and
Removal from Service
provisions of NFPA 1852,
Selection Care and
Maintenance of Open- Circuit
Self -Contained Breathing
Apparatus, fire
departments, fire academies,
and emergency service
organizations should ensure
that all SCBA facepiece
lenses are inspected before
and after each use. Any SCBA
facepiece lens found to have
cracks, crazing, bubbling,
deformation, discoloring,
gaps or holes should be
immediately removed from
service and a replacement
issued.
·In addition to
complying with the
provisions of NFPA 1404,
Standard for Fire Service
Respiratory Protection
Training, fire
departments, fire training
academies and emergency
service organizations should
review their training
programs to ensure that the
following components are
addressed in their
curriculum: the limitations
of respiratory protection
devices; awareness that
delayed recognition of
intense thermal environments
that can occur while wearing
a firefighter protective
ensemble; and how to respond
to problems encountered when
using SCBA in high
temperature environments.
·When
evaluating fire conditions
and determining fire attack
tactics and strategies,
incident commanders, company
officers, and firefighters
should take into account the
thermal performance
limitations of SCBA
facepiece lenses and the
problem of delayed
recognition of heat
intensity due to the thermal
insulation/protection
provided by the PPE
ensemble.
·In addition to
following existing
departmental Standard
Operating Procedures and
Guidelines regarding use of
PPE, all personnel engaged
in commanding, supervising
or performing interior fire
attack operations can reduce
the possibility of facepiece
lens deterioration or
failure by maintaining
constant situational
awareness and by being alert
for deteriorating conditions
indicative of extreme
thermal
temperatures/flashover
conditions. When confronted
with such conditions,
personnel must initiate
self-evacuation or be
directed to retreat to a
safe area.
·Fire
departments, fire academies,
and emergency service
organizations that utilize
SCBA should begin planning
for the upgrade or
replacement of current SCBA
facepiece lenses with
products compliant with the
upcoming 2013 edition of
NFPA 1981.
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