#USFA Coffee Break Training: (Fire Protection) Inspection Technique

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

#USFA Coffee Break Training: (Fire Protection) Inspection Technique

Learning Objective: The student shall be able to identify the party responsible for fire protection during construction and remodeling.

While today’s photograph is an outrageous example of quality control gone awry (as well as the opportunity for a bad joke about a new type of fire wall), it illustrates an important message about job site coordination.

In this example, the framing and wallboard contractor was assigned the responsibility of erecting a temporary partition to isolate a tenant space from a corridor while the entire building

was undergoing a significant remodeling project. According to the plans provided by the project architect, the contractor installed the partition specifically as directed. If he gave any thought to its effect on the fire protection system, the result speaks for itself.

Remodeling and construction projects are dynamic and complicated work sites that involve a number of critical players: owners, architects, engineers, contractors, subcontractors, inspectors, and even visitors. As a project evolves, changes in one area may affect outcomes in another. Large projects often are more complex than small ones and are more likely to have errors as a result.

Project coordination for fire safety and protection in the form of a Fire Prevention Program

Superintendent is the owner’s responsibility. It may be delegated to an architect, job site

superintendent, or general contractor, but final authority remains with the owner. (See Coffee

Break Training 2006-24 for a description of Fire Prevention Program Superintendent programs.)

Buildings under construction, remodeling, or even demolition are particularly vulnerable to fires.

Workers often are using cutting torches or other open flame devices, there may be large amounts of combustible materials throughout the work space, and fire protection systems or fire barriers may be incomplete. Compromising the effectiveness of any fire protection component—such as the sprinkler system in today’s picture—increases the likelihood of a catastrophic fire outcome.

Source: (PDF, 451 Kb) - Coffee Break Training (Fire Protection): Inspection Techniques - Job Site Coordination (#FP-2012-48)

CFN - California Fire News 2012

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How fires get their names

Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States. CDF - CAL FIRE Firefighters answer the call more than 300,000 times a year. CAL FIRE Firefighters make up the fire department for 30 of our 58 counties in California and more than 100 local communities. We serve as the incident command during many of California’s most serious disasters. CAL FIRE Firefighters respond to many various types and forms of calls ranging from structural fires, to auto accidents, to earthquakes, to floods, to the spilling of hazardous materials, to every conceivable disaster; CAL FIRE answer's the calls. CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States . CAL FIRE firefighters protect 33 million acres of State Responsibility Area (SRA). We have over 4,000 members within CAL FIRE and CAL FIRE is associated with the California Professional Firefighters (CPF) and the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF).

CFN - CALIFORNIA FIRE NEWS - CAL FIRE NEWS

Tuesday, November 27, 2012