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How is public education accomplished by the fire department?
- Public presentations
- Distributing safety info
- Writing newspaper articles
- PSA's
- Posting information displays
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The International Fire Code
Model codes that are adopted by the local jurisdiction & used in fire prevention
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A cost effective method for getting vital fire & life safety information to the public
Public Service Announcements (PSA)
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What are the two general ways that fire inspectors contact property owners?
Surveys & inspections
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Why do FF's survey properties within their district?
- To gather info or impart info
- Info can be documented in a binder or computer system that can be referenced during emergency
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What things are noted during preincident surveys?
- Familiarize FF's with contents
- Manufacturing processes
- Layouts of buildings
- Occupant loads
- Means of egress
- Built-in protections systems
- Fire department access
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Inspections
- Made to ensure compliance with applicable fire & life safety code requirements
- Sometimes made by only fire inspectors or company officers & crews
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When fire inspectors notice a more serious code violation what should they do?
They pass it to the fire prevention bureau for further action
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Fire Prevention
Code enforcement inspections of commercial, institutional, & industrials are conducted to ensure that citizens have a safe environment
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What are some things that annual fire inspections include?
Checking the inspection & maintenance dates on the portable fire extinguishers & seeing that fire extinguishers are acceptable
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What kind of information is contained in fire incident records?
Critical info about the fire history of a community & can be helpful with the fire prevention efforts
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What is an important activity of fire prevention?
The code enforcement inspection
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Where can you find the standards that fire inspectors should meet?
NFPA 1031
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Fire Hazard
A condition that increases the liklihood of a fire starting or would increase the extent or severity of a fire if one started
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What is the most manageable combustion component?
Heat sources
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Fuel Hazards
- Ordinary combustibles (wood, cloth, paper)
- Flammable & combustible gases
- Flammable & combustible liquids
- Chemicals (nitrates, oxides, chlorates)
- Dusts (grain, wood, metal, coal)
- Plastics, resins, & cellulose
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Heat Source Hazrds
- Chemical heat energy: Materials being improperly stored can result in chemical heat energy
- Electrical heat energy: Poorly maintained electrical appliances, exposed wiring, & lighting
- Mechanical heat energy: Moving parts on machines
- Nuclear heat energy: Heat created by fission, not commonly encountered by FF
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What should not be stored in a furnace room or enclosure?
Flammable liquids
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Common Fire Hazard
A condition that is prevalent in almost all occupancies & increases the likelihood of fire starting
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Common hazards
- Obstructed electrical panels
- Poor housekeeping & improper storage of combustible materials
- Defective or improperly used heating, lighting, or power equipment
- Misuse of fumigation substances & flammable or combustible liquids
- Improper disposal of floor-cleaning compounds
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What can poor house-keeping cause?
- It can make manuevering through an area difficult
- Impede the path of egress
- Increase the fire load
- Hide fire hazards
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Personal Fire Hazards
- Common hazards caused by the unsafe acts of individuals
- Ex. Smoking in bed
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Special Fire Hazards
One that arises as a result of the processes or operations that are characteristics of the individual occupancy
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Types of special fire hazards
Commercial, Manufacturing, & Public-assembly occupancies
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Commercial occupancy hazards
- Lack of automatic sprinklers
- Change of occuapancy that exceeds use for which permit was given
- Storage of large quantities of combustible products
- Mixed varieties of contents
- Difficulties entering places
- Illegal building additions
- Illegal storage
- Storage aisles incorrect distance apart
- FDC obstructed
- Storage obstructing sprinklers
- Party walls, attics, cocklofts, etc.
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Manufacturing occupancy hazards
- High-hazard processes using volatile substances, oxidizers, or extreme temp.
- Flammable liquids
- High-piled storage of combustible materials
- Operation of vehicles inside building
- Large, open areas
- Large-scale use of flammable & combustible gases
- Lack of automatic sprinklers
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Public assembly occupancies
- Lack of protection systems
- Large numbers of people present
- Insufficient, obstructed, or locked exits
- Materials stored in paths of egress
- Highly combustible interior finishes
- Inadequate or inoperative fire extinguishers
- Inadequate or inoperative exit lighting
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Target Hazard
- Any structure in which there is a greater than normal potential for the loss of life or property from a fire
- Lumberyards, bulk oil storage facilities, shopping malls, hospitals, theaters, nursing homes, schools, etc.
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Preincident survey kits
- Writing equipment: Tablets, pens, pencils, clipboard, survey forms
- Drawing equipment: Engineering or graph paper, straightedge, a copy of NFPA standard symbols
- Other equipment: Flashlight, water-pressure gauge, camera, & measuring tape or rangefinder
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How should the inspection process begin?
- The company officer should introduce the team, briefly review the process, & answer any questions
- The occupant should accompany the team & guide them throughout the process
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What should happen if an inspection team is denied access to a room?
It should be reported to the fire marshall or fire prevention officer so an inspection warrant may be sought
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Where does the inspections team start the inspection?
On the outside of the structure
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When should life-saftey violations, such as obstructed exits or disabled alarms be fixed?
Immediately, before the inspection team leaves the premises
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Fire Safety Surveys
Include preincident planning surveys of public & commercial occupancies & residential fire safety surveys
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Preincident planning surveys
Allows FF's to gather info on a building's construction, layout, contents, fire load, hazmat, protection systems, etc.
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Fuel Load
- The bulk of fuel available to burn and generally refers to the contents of a building
- Should look for large quantities of: Plastics, Aerosis, Compressed gases, Explosives, Flammable & combustible liquids, Combustible dusts, Corrosive materials
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Things FF's should observe when inspecting outside of a structure
- Are address numbers visible?
- Are all sides of the building accessible?
- Is there a building setback or other barriers to aerial devices?
- Are there trees/shrubs that hide FDC?
- Are there barrel windows or security doors?
- What is location of utility controls?
- Are the power lines overhead?
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Setback
Distance from the street line to the front of a building
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When survey of the exterior is complete, where is the next place for the survey team to go?
- Directly to the roof or basement & proceed with a systematic survey
- Many FF's prefer to start @ the roof
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FF's should draw floor-plans and include the following:
- Interior layout
- High-hazard areas
- Egress routes
- Important features
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What info is important to develop written preincident plans?
- A complete set of notes
- Photographs
- Well prepared drawings
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For buildings where existing maps are unavailable or outdated, what should FF's do?
- Include a simple plot plan drawing that shows the arrangement of the property with respect to streets & other buildings
- Most important part of survey
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What information does a basic floor plan drawing provide?
The building layout & additional site info
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What do sectional elevation views show?
The relationship of multiple floors & penetrations such as elevator, pipe shafts, & atriums
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What should you make clear when doing residential fire safety surveys?
That it is a fire prevention activity & not code enforcement
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What are the main objectives when performing residential fire safety surveys?
- Preventing accidental fires
- Improving life safety conditions
- Helping the owners to understand & improve existing conditions
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EDITH
Exit Drills In The Home
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Firefighter responsibilities
- Conduct surveys in teams of two or more
- Dress & act professionally
- Introduce yourself, partner, & provide ID
- Explain survey procedure
- Maintain business-like attitude @ all times
- Focus on preventing fires
- Offer constructive suggestions
- Survey all rooms & garage
- Discuss survey results & answer any questions
- Keep survey confidential
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Residential Fire Common Causes
- Malfunctioning heating appliances & water heaters
- Combustibles too close to heating appliances or lamps
- Unsafe cooking procedures
- Smoking materials
- Overloaded extension cords & multiple-outlet devices
- Exposed electrical wiring
- Defective electrical appliances
- Improper use of combustible/flammable liquid
- Poor housekeeping
- Untended candles
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Interior Surveys
- Combustible materials
- Appliances
- Electrical wiring/equipment
- Portable heating unit
- Woodstoves or fireplaces
- Heating fuel
- General housekeeping practices
- Smoke alarms
- Electrical distribution panels
- Gas appliances
- Oil-burning units
- Furnaces/Water heaters
- Shop/Workrooms
- Accumulated waste
- Flammable liquids
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Recognized testing laboratories
- Underwriters Laboratory (UL)
- FM Global (FM)
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Exterior Surveys
- Roof
- Chimneys & spark arrestors
- Yards & porches
- BBQ's & fuel
- Outside waste burners
- Garages, sheds, barns, & outbuildings
- Flammable liquids & gases
- Lightning protection
- Security devices
- Power lines
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Where should dry combustibles be stored?
- Away from a structure
- Ex. Firewood
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Home Safety Issues
- Homeowners should maintain a clear path of egress
- Should have two exits available
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The Four E's
- Education
- Engineering
- Enforcement
- Economic Incentive
- The four parts of effective injury prevention
- Sometimes emergency response is added
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Organizations used for fire facts
- USFA
- NIST
- Home Safety Council
- Safe Kids
- American Red Cross
- U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commision
- CDC
- UL
- NFPA
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What is one of the most important methods in life-safety education?
- To present positive information
- Positive messages: "Crawl low under smoke", "Get out, get out", "Call 911"
- Use positve messages instead of negative ones
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Basic Four-Step Method of Instruction
- Preparation: Know the material, practice, & create interest
- Presentation: Present facts & ideas, Use visual aids, demonstrate techniques, present pens with safety messages
- Application: Participants are allowed to practice the info that you have given them
- Evaluation: Determine the effect that the presentation has on saftey & prevention in community
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Common definition of a young child
Birth to 8 yrs old
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Presenting Fire & Life-Safety to Children
- Make presentation 15 minutes or less
- Remain flexible
- Get down to childrens eye level
- Do not scare children
- Allow them to watch you put your gear on
- Children learn best by doing not hearing
- Do not allow children to wear your helmet
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Presentation Topics
- Stop, drop, & roll techniques
- Home safety
- Smoke alarms
- CO detectors
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Candles
- Accounted for 4% of fires in 2004
- 38% occured in a bedroom
- Resulted in 35% of fire deaths
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Safety Tips for Candles
- Place on heat resistant surfaces
- Always use holder
- Do not place near curtains or fabrics
- Keep out of reach of children
- Seperate candles by @ least 4"
- Do not move lighted candles
- Never leave unattended
- During power outage use flashlights instead
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Where should smoke detectors be located?
- On every level of the structure
- Every bedroom
- Usually mounted on ceiling
- Also mounted on walls, no closer than 4" no farther than 12"
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How should smoke detectors be installed?
According to manufacturer's instructions
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What is one of the first things to do when a station tour starts?
Provide instructions on what to do & whee to go if an alarm sounds during the tour
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How many civilian fire casualties occur in residences each year?
70%
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What does a preincident planning survey do?
Minimizes a building's deficiences & maximizing its strengths
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What is the major fuel sources in most modern commercial & mercantile building?
Furnishings & other building contents
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Motivation
The internal process in which energy is produced by needs or expended in the direction of goals.
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