Fire Chief

On the evening of April 1, after two very productive days of intense brainstorming and in-depth discussions, the curtain finally came down on the first act of the Vision 20/20’s National Strategic Agenda for Fire Loss Prevention.

Fire safety education. That idea doesn’t give the same adrenalin rush as the wail of a siren or the sight of black, billowing smoke, does it? I’ve been around the fire service long enough to remember when the most memorable things about fire-safety education were the animals: Sparky the Fire Dog or Smokey Bear.

“Comfortably Numb” is a song from Pink Floyd’s The Wall; it’s also how Las Vegas Fire & Rescue Chief Ozzie Mirkhah described the U.S. fire service’s response to 4,000-plus fire fatalities and 100-plus firefighter line-of-duty deaths each year.

For decades, American school children have practiced fire drills as often as monthly to ensure they react safely and swiftly in the event of fire. The fire code requirements mandating these exercises stemmed from disasters that claimed dozens of young lives and remain in effect despite — if not because of — the fact so few have perished in similar circumstances since they took effect.

Since the first of the year, Ohio has suffered several serious fires that have raised media attention. In just this state, there have been 14 to 16 fire fatalities, depending on the coroners’ final determinations. Two of the fires, which appear to be arsons, have claimed 11 of those lives.

A fresh snowfall and a new calendar have a lot in common — both are clean and waiting for your input. Hopefully, you’re enjoying the 2008 Station Style Calendar that was mailed with FIRE CHIEF’s December issue. If you haven’t received one, let me know.

With the holiday season here, the NFPA updated its statistics on holiday-related fires. The data includes the average annual number and severity of incidents, loss estimates, and injuries and deaths related to fires from holiday decorations, lights, trees and candles. But another statistic generated by the NFPA caught my eye even more than the holiday update.

I have been thinking that we need to approach fire investigation and reporting more holistically, much like the National Transportation Safety Board treats a transportation wreck and like many jurisdictions reconstruct vehicle collisions. We need to address the root causes that allow deaths to occur rather than just focusing an origin and cause determination.

A recent outbreak caused approximately 198 deaths in four months. The medical examiner found pulmonary edema and damage to the trachea, bronchi and alveoli in the upper areas of the lungs. Most of the victims were children, who have been particularly vulnerable to this menace.

I want to bring your attention to an area that the fire service needs to focus a tad more on — the socio-economic demographics of fire. Research is weak in this area and as a result public-education efforts aren’t up to par.